Bala Lake Railway (Gwynedd) weather

Headline:

A very cold and frosty start to the new year.

Today:

A rather cloudy morning with a band of patchy rain and hill snow moving southwards. Turning brighter by New Year's afternoon with a few wintry showers following, particularly across the north. Feeling cold, especially in the brisk breeze. Maximum temperature 8 °C.

Tonight:

A mostly dry evening with clear spells. Overnight a band of rain, sleet and snow moves southwards, leading to a risk of ice and some accumulations, especially over high ground. Minimum temperature -3 °C.

Friday:

Rain, sleet and snow clearing south during the morning, with plenty of sunshine following. Feeling cold with perhaps a few wintry showers come the afternoon. Maximum temperature 5 °C.

Outlook for Saturday to Monday:

A cold weekend with further wintry showers at times, especially near northern and western coasts. Plenty of sunshine inland and widespread frosts by night. Remaining similar on Monday.

The recent spell of cold, northerly winds should begin to ease by the middle of next week, with snow showers in the north and east becoming lighter and less frequent. However, bands of rain seem likely to gradually move in off the Atlantic and, as these encounter the cold air entrenched over the UK, some further snowfall is possible, particularly in central and eastern areas, with rain more likely in the west. From next weekend, the outlook becomes more uncertain. Most likely is that conditions will be less cold than recently, but there still remains potential for further spells of snow, especially in northern and central areas. Further south and west, some milder interludes are possible, with the chance of some heavier rain and stronger winds at times.

Whilst confidence in details is low, by the start of this period the transition back to westerly winds bringing Atlantic weather systems into the UK is expected to be complete, with temperatures most likely recovering to around or just below average. There is perhaps a weak signal for slowly evolving weather patterns to be more favoured than normal, such patterns increase the chances of frost and fog above normal by night.