Forecasters are predicting that The Beast From The East will make an unwelcome reappearance this weekend – and there could be snow coming with it.
Advance forecasts for Saturday and Sunday are showing cold winds from Siberia sweeping across the country. Although there is some uncertainty as to how cold it will be, the Met Office is currently forecasting a daytime wind chill temperature (what it feels like) of -5ºC.
Sunday is the day of Reading’s half marathon and thousands of runners will be caught up in the cold conditions.
However, the biggest uncertainty is whether the cold winds will also bring snow to the borough.
Forecasters will not know with any certainty until Friday if snow is likely – and even then, it could pass us by.
Twitter account WeatherSchool suggests that there could be snow, but stress this is an early model and could be wrong.
Forecast model weather for Sunday showing significant snowfall across the southern half of the UK. There is still a long way to go but this is a situation which is going to be closely monitored. comes off https://t.co/PV6kzDlPcH #ukweather #uksnow pic.twitter.com/kDQjpUUU6v
— Weather School (@weatherschool) March 13, 2018
So the latest ECM brings very cold air across the UK from the east as early as Saturday with snow likely❄️ #BeastFromTheEast #UKSnow pic.twitter.com/SgxfE6mepZ
— Weather Updates (@Weather_Nathan) March 12, 2018
And even TV weathercaster Liam Dutton agrees there could be snow:
Beast from the east, part two?
Another burst of Siberian air may push westwards over Europe next weekend. It’s unlikely to be as intense or as prolonged as the last cold spell. Nevertheless, it brings the possibility of snow, frost and a late season chill back into the mix… pic.twitter.com/HjM1JBFnXA
— Liam Dutton (@liamdutton) March 11, 2018
But for the moment we just don’t know for certain – we’ll keep an eye on the charts. And don’t pack your winter woollies away just yet.