Unsettled weather ushers in New Year
Author: Press Office
15:30 (UTC) on Tue 31 Dec 2024
A combination of heavy rain, strong winds and some snow all feature in the UK forecast for the New Year period.
A series of National Severe Weather Warnings – including an Amber Warning for rain in Scotland – are currently in place.
Met Office Chief Meteorologist, Andy Page said: “Following a complex weather pattern featuring a series of low-pressure systems bringing strong winds, rain and even some snow, the forecast for the next few days has a much colder outlook”.
New Year’s Eve (Tuesday) sees a number of warnings for wind, snow and rain across the UK, with an Amber Warning for rain in parts of Scotland.
Andy Page said: “Heavy rain will affect parts of western and northern Scotland during Tuesday, with a separate band of rain moving south across northern England and North Wales through the afternoon. Strong winds will also be a feature across southern Scotland and northeast England, which may lead to some travel disruption on New Year’s Eve.”
People in Scotland should check their flood risk on the SEPA website.
Uncertainty from New Year’s Day
Across much of England and Wales, New Year's Day will start wet and windy. While Northern Ireland and Scotland will experience colder conditions, with a mix of sunshine and wintry showers.
Met Office Deputy Chief Meteorologist Rebekah Hicks said: “A band of persistent and at times heavy rain will linger across Wales and northwest England through Tuesday night and Wednesday morning, before clearing southeast during Wednesday afternoon. This rain will be accompanied by strong and gusty winds.”
Turning cold from Thursday
By Thursday, it is likely that the whole of the UK will experience a change to colder conditions, with this persisting into the weekend. Wintry showers are expected to affect the far north and east at times, but away from these, sunshine will be much more widespread than in recent days. Overnight temperatures will widely fall below freezing, perhaps reaching minus double digits in areas of Scotland already covered in snow.
Snow and ice are likely to lead to some travel disruption and difficult driving conditions on New Year’s Day and overnight until 2 January in parts of northern Scotland, and a Yellow Warning has been issued.
You can find the latest forecast on our website, on YouTube, by following us on X and Facebook, as well as on our mobile app which is available for iPhone from the App store and for Android from the Google Play store.
