Met Office forecasts more heavy snow for the UK

More heavy snow is expected to hit the UK this week as the cold weather shows no signs of abating. There were snow flurries in the north today, which were not expected to cause significant disruption, but the Met Office has issued severe weather warnings for the next two days. Accumulations of up to 15cm are expected on high ground in northern Scotland tomorrow. Further heavy flurries are expected in the region on Wednesday and heavy rain is expected to turn to snow in parts of England stretching northwards from the south-west. Barry Gromett, from the Met Office, said previous forecasts had suggested that the south-east would be worst affected, but the areas most at risk were now predicted to be the West Midlands up to the Peak District. Areas above 150 metres are expected to experience between 2cm and 6cm of snow. The UK will also see icy roads, raising the prospect of travel disruption and renewing pressure on grit stocks, which were severely depleted earlier this winter during the longest cold snap in 30 years. "Icy roads are probably a feature of the weather all week," Gromett said. "It really doesn't warm up much this week at all. There's going to be a lot of rain, sleet and snow and that's going to lead to icy stretches with temperatures falling to close to zero if not below zero in many parts." The average temperature last month was 1.1C (34F), colder than for any January since 1987 and the ninth lowest recorded in the past 100 years. Parts of Scotland and the north-east of England experienced snow as deep as 58cm, while the lowest temperature was -22.3C, recorded in Altnaharra in the Scottish Highlands on 7 January.