Thundersnow – as the name suggests – involve heavy snowfall rather than rain as the primary precipitation, often accompanied by thunder and lightning. The unusual weather phenomenon occurs 10 times a year worldwide
Forecasters have today (November 19) issued a rare ‘thundersnow’ warning.
Thundersnow, as the name implies, involves heavy snowfall instead of rain as the main form of precipitation, often accompanied by thunder and lightning. This unusual weather event occurs when the atmosphere is turbulent enough to form cumulonimbus clouds and typically happens around 10 times a year worldwide.
Areas forecast to have snow showers today and into Thursday could experience thundersnow.
This alert comes amidst several Met Office yellow warnings for snow and ice across the UK., reports The Mirror. An amber snow alert is in place for Thursday, covering North East England (Redcar and Cleveland) and Yorkshire and Humber (East Riding of Yorkshire; North Yorkshire).
The Met Office says of the amber alert: “Frequent wintry showers will feed inland from the North Sea, giving significant snow accumulations over the North York Moors and parts of the Yorkshire Wolds.
“By the end of Thursday, as much as 15-25 cm may have accumulated on hills above 100 m elevation, which is likely to cause substantial disruption. Gusty winds, giving occasional blizzard conditions, and perhaps a few lightning strikes, may accompany some of the showers, posing as additional hazards.”
Wintry conditions are expected to continue around the coasts after up to 7cm (2.7in) of snow fell in parts of the UK.
The Met Office said conditions in central inland areas will likely be brighter and drier, with wintry showers on the coasts of north Scotland as well as the east and west coasts of the UK, after snow fell overnight and on Wednesday morning.
Areas including London, Hertfordshire, Berkshire, Surrey, Essex, Shropshire and Northumberland saw snow, with Met Office weather stations in Lake Vyrnwy in Powys, Wales, recording 7cm of lying snow at 8am.
Other weather stations reporting lying snow include Lerwick in Shetland which saw 5cm, 4cm in Loch Glascarnoch and 7cm in Altnaharra, both in the Scottish Highlands, 2cm in Aviemore, Invernesshire, and 1cm each in Dyce, Aberdeenshire, Drumalbin in Lanarkshire and at Redesdale Camp in Northumberland.
Multiple Met Office yellow warnings for ice and snow have also been issued for the coming days, covering Northern Ireland, parts of Wales, northern and south-westerly parts of England and much of Scotland.
Met Office chief forecaster Neil Armstrong said: “Cold Arctic air from the north is firmly in charge of the UK’s weather, bringing the first notable cold snap of this autumn and giving an early taste of winter weather.
“As a result, winter hazards are likely through the next few days, with snow and ice a particular hazard, and the coldest conditions likely on Wednesday and Thursday.
“Wintry showers will affect areas exposed to the brisk northerly wind, in particular Northern Ireland, southwest Wales, south-west England, north-east England and across the northern half of Scotland.
“Whilst not all places will see lying snow, where showers are most frequent accumulations of 2-5cm will be possible.
“On higher ground in Scotland, 15-20cm could accumulate, and potentially as much as 15-25cm over the North York Moors and Yorkshire Wolds.”
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