minus 20 ?

All parts of Britain and Ireland are in for a lot of increasingly cold and snowy weather as we go through the next week with some potentially severe winter weather developing across our shores. We would advise people to prepare themselves for a spell of winter weather that's not been seen for many years as severe frosts and heavy snowfalls become the main feature during next week.

A taster for what is coming is affecting some parts today, as a couple of features move across some parts of the country, with a chill north-easterly wind blowing in tonight. Whilst many parts have started off dry and bright with a frost, this morning has seen sleet and snow (rain nearer coasts) falling across some central areas of England, as well as across northeast England, whilst snow showers have followed into eastern Scotland as the easterly winds increased here.

The wintry mix across central areas will continue to move southeast today, whilst the other area of wintry precipitation across the northeast slips south, eventually passing through southern England tonight - perhaps bringing a slight covering of snow to some spots. Snow showers will follow onto eastern coasts, but for many clearing skies tonight will allow a widespread frost to form, and this will become severe across some northern areas as temperatures drop below -12C in some rural spots.

Sunday will be a fine and cold day for many parts, but snow showers will affect south-eastern areas at times, whilst further wintry showers move into northern and eastern Scotland during the day. The wintry showers in the north will mark the boundary between the cold air already here, and the even colder air following on, and this boundary will shift south during Monday and Tuesday. It is after this has gone through that the potential for heavy snow and severe frosts really increases, and is something we are monitoring closely as the second half of next week could end up very wintry indeed with significant snowfalls for some and temperatures dropping below -20C for some rural locations in the north.

not good :-(