The UK is in for a snowy start to the week, with the Met Office warning of travel disruption, power cuts and widespread icy roads as it issues widespread weather warnings. The mercury has certainly plummeted in 2026, with temperatures plummeting to well below freezing, while daytime temperatures are set to barely reach 5C in the next few days.
As that Arctic front meets wet air moving in from the Atlantic, it makes the perfect recipe for snow, sleet and icy conditions. The weather which collided over the weekend and will continue to spread its way over the UK in the next 48 hours. This new set of warnings on Tuesday will primarily affect 12 regions, ranging from the Scottish Highlands to Devon and Cornwall.
The warnings of snow and ice are in place from 12am on Monday until 11am on Tuesday.
In Scotland, an alert for snow and ice will be in force from midnight on January 6, running until 11.59pm the same day.
The Met Office forecast added: “An area of snow is likely to move east across central and northern Scotland during Tuesday.
“2-5 cm of additional snow could accumulate quite widely, though 10-15 cm may build up on ground above 200 metres, particularly in the west and north of the warning area, with a few places possibly seeing around 20 cm fall.”
However, weather models from WX charts expect the snow could be much more severe in Scotland, with the latest data suggesting snow could reach depths of 47cm over areas in the north.
In Wales and the south west of England, another warning will be in place from 12pm on Monday until 11am the following day.
Here, the forecasters have predicted scattered sleet and snow showers throughout the evening and into Tuesday. They believe much of the disruption will be around the western coast, but will likely spread inland, where people can expect around 5-10cm of snowfall.
Finally, the east coast of England is also under a warning from midnight on Sunday until 11am on Tuesday.
The Met Office added: “Whilst not all areas will be affected, scattered snow showers will move inland from the North Sea during Monday, giving some small accumulations in places.
“Where snow showers are most frequent, this is most likely across southeast Scotland, parts of North and East Yorkshire and Redcar and Cleveland, fresh accumulations of 5-8 cm will be possible in a few places. Lightning and gusty winds may be additional hazards, especially near windward coasts.”