A better day for the vast majority of the region today. Many places should be dry and bright albeit very cold! (temperature reached nearly minus 18C at Benson in Oxon last night!) There is a risk of a few snow showers, more especially in the eastern counties (Surrey, Sussexes and Kent) later today as a small low tracks across the southeast corner. On the radar sequence on our website(http://www.metoffice.gov.uk/weather/uk/radar/) you will see the showers circulating round that as it moves south and so can monitor the likelihood of your own area being affected. A few more centimetres of snow are possible from these showers in the east.
Freezing cold again tonight with a a risk of a few showers too. These should be light and again, most likely in more eastern areas, but they will add to the freezing problems where they occur. There should be a temporary lull in the showers as they move south through the afternoon and evening but overnight another area of snow showers is expected to move southwards across the region in the early hours of Friday morning. These look to be heaviest in the east but are liekly to affect all parts. Most places should be clear of the snow by the rush hour. Ice will again be a major issue through the night from early Thursday evening with freezing temperatures. Indeed, temperatures are unlikely to get much above freezing in many places all day..
For Friday, still the risk of some snow showers, especially in the east. These shouldn't add too much to what is already lying but there will be an increasing east to northeast wind which could start to blow snow about. Saturday too will be a day of some snow showers and a strong east to north east wind (so any snow again likely to drift).
Sunday could be a very nasty day with some blizzard conditions as snow moves up from the southeast. There is currently a good signal for a widespread 5cm of snow but the drfiting in a strong easterly wind will produce large variations in the local depths. Clearly there could be some signficant problems. Please keep an eye on the forecasts and warnings. An Early warning for this may be issued later today or tomorrow. (http://www.metoffice.gov.uk/weather/uk/ee/ee_forecast_warnings.html)
The further outlook remains cold for at least the next 10 days although there are weak signals for milder conditions creeping in after that.
Received from the Met Office at 10:36
