Thurnham Hall (Lancashire) weather

Headline:

A very cold and frosty start to the new year.

Today:

A band of showery rain in the south will clear leaving a dry and bright New Year's morning. Northern areas remaining dry during the afternoon, but a few showers developing across the south. Feeling cold in the gusty wind. Maximum temperature 6 °C.

Tonight:

Further wintry showers moving into southern areas overnight, leading to a risk of ice and perhaps some slight accumulations of snow. Staying dry and clear elsewhere with a widespread frost. Minimum temperature -3 °C.

Friday:

A largely dry, sunny but cold day with just a few wintry showers moving into the far south at times. Another very frosty night following. Maximum temperature 4 °C.

Outlook for Saturday to Monday:

A cold but largely dry weekend with plenty of sunshine by day and frost by night. A few wintry showers possible, mainly in the south. 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.