The sudden stratospheric warming event is about to deliver the UK’s coldest spell of weather this winter!   Later this week we see the winds switch to an easterly direction and whilst the coldest of air is yet to come, even by Friday and Saturday we’ll already start to see the changes occur across eastern areas as day time and overnight temperatures start to drop.   As we head into Sunday we start to see a snow shower risk across eastern coastal counties of England and Scotland with perhaps some more organised precipitation (sleet/snow) across E Scotland.   Monday is when the coldest air is expected to start digging in with very cold air being sourced all the way from …

Please note: Some of the following information is very over-simplified. The result is that the information, whilst accurate, does not account for all variables involved in forecasting the likely state of the Stratosphere, but it should make it a little easier to understand overall. The buzz word in recent years in the ‘industry’ surrounding winter forecasts has been stratosphere, and more prominently Sudden Stratospheric Warming (SSW for short).   What is this phenomenon and how does it affect the UK in winter? Well, as ever, there is a little bit of explaining to do, but stick with me!   So, as anybody who studied GCSE Geography will most likely know, the prevailing wind direction in the UK through the year generally, …