A full-scale fracas between the stormy Atlantic and a "cold anticyclone" will kick-start February with medley of showers, gales and the risk of easterly snow.
Britain’s yo-yo weather shows no calm through the end of winter as meteorologists bash their barometers over endlessly conflicting forecasts.
Scotland and northern England will through the coming days battle more wind and rain while the south is calmer and drier.
But a relentless feud between Atlantic low pressure, the jet stream and a cold high-pressure "anticyclone" will continue to shake the UK weather.
A full-scale fracas between the stormy Atlantic and a "cold anticyclone" will kick-start February with medley of showers, gales and the risk of easterly snow
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Met Office meteorologist Honor Criswick said: “Once again, we see a battleground between the northwest, with some wet and windy weather here, battling this area of high pressure across central and southern parts of the UK.
“But it is fairly cold high, so we could see some pockets of frost or even some fog where we see the more settled conditions, and to the far northwest, that’s where we’ve drawn the short straw, with wet and windy weather expected here.
“As we head towards the end of next week, high pressure is staying to the south of the UK so it will be wet and windy to the northwest and slightly milder here, across southern and central parts of the UK temperatures around average or slightly below.”
Some weather models show the UK coming under the influence of a cold easterly blast, she warned.
But more likely is for this to retreat allowing more unsettled weather in from the north, she added.
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She said: “It depends on where the high pressure sits and what sort of weather we see, and by Wednesday, there is lots of fine and dry weather across central and southern UK.
“There is another option, although this is not the favoured solution, and that is with an area of high pressure over Scandinavia which would bring in some easterly winds.
“That means quite cold conditions and perhaps some flurries of snow, so, there is a chance we see something colder on the cards as we head into the first week of February.”
Experts are closely watching the atmospheric battleground as the outlook for the end of winter hangs in the balance.
A relentless feud between Atlantic low pressure, the jet stream and a cold high-pressure "anticyclone" will continue to shake the UK weather
Met Office
Criswick said: “We end up with a battleground between this wet and windy weather towards the northwest and that is moving up against an area of high pressure towards the southeast.
“As we head into February, that really makes a difference as to what is going to happen with our weather, and it could be the difference between something quite cold and something above average for the time of year.”
An active jet stream fired-up by a bout of extreme cold over the United States will steer Britain’s weather through the coming weeks.
The sub-zero blast which brought snow as far south as Florida was behind Storm Eowyn’s rapid strengthening last week.
Further unsettled weather and heavy rain in parts will bring an ongoing danger from spring flooding.
Jim Dale, meteorologist for British Weather Services and social commentator, said: “For the next week there is going to be a risk of flooding with heavy rain forecast in parts of the country.
“This is most problematic in the southwest, Wales and parts of the Midlands where another four inches of rain is not out of the question.”
