647-mile wall of 'venomous' snow heading for Lancashire in late winter freeze

Weather experts say a wave of ‘venomous’ snow is heading for Lancashire in a wintry blast later this month.

New weather maps produced by MetDesk show the region covered in shades of purple and blue, indicating that snow could be on its way. The 647-mile wall of potential snowfall stretched from the Orkney Islands down to Cardiff with Lancashire caught in between.

Temperatures are also set to plummet and the snow is expected to be particularly heavy in mountainous areas on the West coast, including the Lake District. Wintry weather is predicted to arrive from February 27, with several inches of snow forecast for parts of the UK and as much as five centimetres could fall per hour over higher ground, according to data from MetDesk.

Exacta Weather expert James Madden warned: “Confirmation is now also starting to come in from elsewhere, and the main third-party computer models are also coming on board with a major spell of cold weather and widespread snow across large parts of the country for in and around the middle part of next week and onwards. Initially, it looks like these colder conditions will come from some cold northerly/northwesterly winds and a further evolution and the influence of something more substantial from the east is also still very plausible in this period and heading into March.”

The expert went on to claim that conditions in the UK could see “prolonged snow” carry over into Spring, the ECHO reports. We could see the wintery conditions cover more of the country than in previous warnings this winter.

A map shows a wall of snow hitting the UK

Mr Madden added: “The recent SSW will also intensify the magnitude and frequency of these cold northerly and easterlies in comparison to the wintry blasts we have experienced throughout this winter to date. Historically speaking and when we look at longer term trends from the past, we can also see that these cold winds from the north and east can be more common at times throughout the first several weeks of the meteorological spring, and particularly more so when atmospheric and blocking patterns are stacked in our favour like at present.

“The upcoming and nearest snow events are also likely to be much more venomous than anything we have seen so far this winter with the winds in either scenario from the north and/or east, and they are also likely to extend to areas much farther south this time around due to how they have come about in terms of the recent and quite powerful SSW weather event.”

The weather in Lancashire on Friday (February 16) is expected to be wet and overcast for most of the day with temperatures at 10C. Mercury levels will rise to 14C on Saturday and will be mostly cloudy during the day before a band of heavy rain sweeps in from around 6pm.

There will be a mixture of rain and cloudy conditions on Sunday with temperatures at 11C while Monday will be sunnier.

The Met Office long-range forecast heading towards the end of the month reads: “During late February and early March, there is a slightly higher than normal likelihood of northerly or easterly winds occurring, which would increase the chance of colder and drier than average conditions. Spells of milder and wetter weather are still likely to occur at times, especially in the south and southwest, with the potential for snow on the boundary between milder and colder air.”