London is set to be hit by more snow next week as the temperature is set to plummet further.
Light snow showers and sleet are due to break out across the capital on Wednesday (January 17) afternoon and continue into the evening.
Temperatures are expected to plummet further, to below freezing early next week. Monday is due to be the coldest day, with the mercury due to drop to -3C in parts of north-west London such as Hampstead, where it is set to feel like -6C.
It follows a freezing few days in the capital, including an icy start to the day on Thursday that felt like -1C.
Elsewhere in the UK could see “significant snow” next week, the Met Office warns.
Snow already blanketed parts of the country on Monday, triggering an amber health alert by the UK Health Security Agency, which covers north-west England, the West Midlands, East Midlands and south-west England until noon on Friday.
It means that “cold weather impacts are likely to be felt across the whole health service for an extended period of time”.
Mayor Sadiq Khan had to activate an emergency protocol aimed at taking rough sleepers off the streets as temperatures turned frosty on Monday. An ice warning was issued for London until 3am on Tuesday as the capital saw its first snow of the year.
Londoners started reporting snow falling in places like Orpington, Croydon and Beckenham from around 10.30am on Monday, with further flurries across the city continuing throughout the afternoon and into the evening.
Temperatures felt as cold as -5C in some parts of London late on Monday afternoon.
The bitter weather is caused by high pressure which is bringing colder than average weather for the time of year.
While it is too early for the Met Office to be able to give a “highly detailed forecast” for next week, meteorologists already have an idea of “the kind of set-up we’re looking at”.
In a video posted to X on Tuesday, they explained that the country can expect a northerly airflow with snow showers.
Although “cold and crisp”, these types of conditions usually bring “a lot of sunshine” as well.
Then, the Atlantic wants to come back in with “a tendency to start to push low pressure back in from the southwest”, forecasters believe.
A Met Office expert said: “The problem that this gives us, is when it reaches and starts to interact with the cold air – that cold northerly which is already across the UK.
“So you get moist, warm air starting to come in, low pressure from the southwest, and then when it reaches the cold air, you tend to get snow.
“We can’t tell where that will be, we can’t tell how long it will last, how heavy it will be.
“But these are the kind of situations where you can have some quite significant snow events in parts of the UK, so certainly want to keep a really close eye on.”
The Met Office has said the current cold weather is likely throughout the week, with an increased chance of “wintry hazards” in the next few days.
The Met Office has said cold and largely dry conditions will persist through much of this week, with areas in the south being particularly cold compared to average.
