Britain is set to face a colossal band of snow in the early hours of Monday, January 12, new weather maps suggest. The charts generated by WXCharts predict a long wall of snow, stretching from the northernmost tip of Scotland all the way down to the south coast of England and across the Channel into France.
The “purple zone”, which denotes heavy snow, is shown covering a vast swathe of the country. According to the charts, the frozen onslaught begins to intensify at midnight (00:00 UTC), with the most concentrated snowfall hitting the spine of the UK. Cities directly in the path of the purple wall include Glasgow, Dundee, Edinburgh, Newcastle, Manchester, Stoke-on-Trent, Birmingham, and parts of west London. By 3 am, the maps show the heavy snow band drifting slightly eastward, continuing to dump significant accumulations across the Pennines, the Midlands, and East Anglia.
The sheer scale of the weather front is staggering, appearing to span approximately 771 miles from the Scottish Highlands down through the heart of England.
Meteorologists use purple on these charts to represent the intensity of snowfall, often exceeding 3-5cm per hour in the most affected areas.
This suggests that commuters could face a chaotic Monday morning as the “wall of snow” threatens to bring the road and rail networks to a standstill or cause slippery conditions for commuters. Residents are being urged to keep a close eye on local forecasts and prepare for potential travel disruptions as the purple wall approaches.
While much of the UK is highlighted in purple to indicate snow, cities in the west, including Belfast, Swansea, Bristol, and Plymouth, appear to be seeing rain, as the milder Atlantic air clashes with the freezing polar air over the British Isles.
Met Office weather forecast for Sunday, January 11 – Tuesday, January 20 reads: “A change in weather patterns is likely at the start of this period. Milder air is expected to start to arrive from the west during Sunday as a band of rain arrives. Depending on how quickly the band moves eastwards, this could lead to another spell of snow across northern and eastern areas.
“A change to milder, albeit unsettled conditions, is then most likely into the following week, probably persisting for the remainder of the period. All areas will see showers or longer spells of rain at times though still with some drier interludes. Potentially windy at times too. Whilst this transition is most likely occur, very cold is expected to remain close to the east of the UK with a small chance of it returning.”
