Britain braced for 300-mile snow wall dropping 10cm of white stuff by the hour

Parts of the UK will be hit by heavy snowfall and freezing conditions on New Year’s Day after what is set to be a very mild and ‘grey’ Christmas Day, according to forecasts

New Year’s Day could be very white(Image: Getty Images)

A 300-mile wide wall of snow is set to batter Britain on New Year’s Day, according to new weather maps. WXCharts maps show snow – indicated by purple – sweeping across the nation on January 1 and 2 after a mild and “grey” Christmas period.

The southwest will be the first area hit by the cold front before the wintry showers move on to the midlands and East Anglia. On the second day of 2025, Cumbria, the northeast and central Scotland including Newcastle and Edinburgh look to be hit with 10cm of snow every hour.

Heavy downpours of rain will follow the second day of snow in Yorkshire, Lancashire, the East Midlands, parts of Northern Ireland and Wales. The Met Office’s long-range forecast for Saturday 28 December to Monday 6 January reads: “The start of this period will be characterised by mild, cloudy conditions for most, with some drizzle in places, and more persistent rain across northwest Scotland, which will probably start to spread southeast.

10cm of snow could fall per hour(Image: Getty Images)

“Many other areas will be predominantly dry but rather cloudy, with the best cloud breaks likely to be found across parts of eastern Scotland and Northeastern England. By the turn of the year, it looks more probable that colder, more unsettled conditions will likely make at least some ingress into northern and central areas, bringing a risk of some impacts from rain, wind, and maybe even ice, sleet and snow.

Wintry showers will arrive on January 1 and 2(Image: PA)

“Widely mild at first, but temperatures probably return to nearer normal by early January. Throughout, any clearer spells overnight may lead to localised frost and fog.”

The unsettled and cold weather forecast for the new year follows a particularly mild and “grey” Christmas period. The Met Office said it anticipates a “grey Christmas” with “extremely mild” temperatures, and some sunny spells.

The purple in the weather map indicates snow(Image: WXcharts)

It comes after a “perfect storm” of adverse weather conditions and road congestion led to widespread disruption during the Christmas getaway.

The Met Office issued yellow warnings for wind which remained in place until 9pm on Sunday. The warnings were in place in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland, and in England the warnings covered the North East, North West, South West and West Midlands as well as Yorkshire, Derbyshire and Hampshire.

The wall of snow will likely cause travel chaos(Image: PA)

The forecaster also issued a new yellow warning for ice in parts of north-east Scotland, which came into force at 9pm on Sunday until 10am on Monday. An airport was forced to enact emergency procedures on Sunday after a plane’s nose wheel collapsed as it landed in Belfast.

The snow will hit as Brits return to work(Image: Getty Images)
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There were four crew on board and no passengers when the “hard landing” occurred on Sunday afternoon. The incident triggered emergency procedures at Belfast City Airport and forced the runway to close for the rest of the day.

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