People in some parts of Wales will have woken to snow this morning as temperatures dropped below freezing overnight. Despite spring fast approaching, and an unseasonably warm start to March, it looks as though the winter is not through yet as forecasters predict a cold snap.
People on higher ground such as Blaenau Gwent and the Brecon Beacons were greeted with a shower of the white stuff on Thursday March 31 as temperatures reached lows of 2 °C in parts.
And it looks like the cold temperature could brace the country for a few days yet, with a wintry weekend in store for much of the country. The freezing weather will come as a shock to many, with parts of Wales reaching temperatures of 19°C at the start of the week.
Traffic Wales posted some very picturesque wintery scenes on Thursday, showing a decent snowfall overnight. The A470 looked more like something you would expect to see in Decemeber rather than the last day of March as snow covered all of the landscape as well as the roads. In Blaenau Gwent rooves of houses, cars and the surfaces of the roads had also received a showering.
Arctic winds are set to bring a blast of cold weather to Wales until Friday. The Met Office forecast for Wales is showing the white stuff is set to fall in parts of south, mid and north Wales. The Met Office says that Thursday will start bright, but there will be "isolated wintry showers" in the afternoon.
BBC forecaster Matt Taylor said: "It is going to be a massive turnaround, and will feel bitterly cold compared to Tuesday. Arctic air is pushing down from the north, and there will be some snow pushing down.
"Most of you will only see a few flakes in the wind and for the vast majority, there will be nothing at all, but there will be some sleet and snow overnight in southern areas. The biggest issue on Thursday morning is the risk of frost and ice."
The Met Office charts showed that the majority of the snow in Wales was set to fall between 1am and 4am on Thursday (March 31), and it is going to feel extremely cold throughtout the day. The cold snap makes it even colder in the UK than Reykjavik which is set to remain above zero for the coming week.
The Met Office charts for Cardiff don't show any snow, but it will feel like -1°C at 10am, and will only rise to 3°C during the afternoon. Swansea's charts are showing a similar story with temperatures feeling like 3°C by noon on Thursday.
Temperatures in Brecon are going to struggle to get above freezing during the day on Thursday, and temperatures in Ceredigion will feel around 2°C.
Here are the feels like temperatures for parts of Wales at 10am on Thursday:
- Aberaeron -1°C
- Bangor 0 °C
- Brecon -2°C
- Builth Wells -2°C
- Cardiff -1°C
- Carmarthen 0°C
- Monmouth -1 °C
- Newport -3°C
- Pembroke Dock 0°C
- Swansea 0°C
- By 3pm on Thursday the temperatures will feel like:
- Aberaeron 2°C
- Bangor 2 °C
- Brecon 2°C
- Builth Wells 2°C
- Cardiff 4°C
- Carmarthen 4 °C
- Monmouth 2 °C
- Newport 2°C
- Pembroke Dock 3 °C
- Swansea 4°C
The Met Office's outlook for Wales on Friday and the weekend says: "Cold on Friday with sunny spells and isolated showers of rain, sleet and hill snow. Further showers of rain and hill snow on Saturday. Dry and bright on Sunday."
It is not entirely unusual to see snow this late in the year. Last year, the Met Office issues snow warnings for parts of Wales over the Easter weekend, which was the first weekend in April. You can read more about those warnings here.
In 2013, Arctic winds swept across Wales at the end of March. The unseasonal conditions hit during lambing season and saw special carcass disposal measures brought in by the Welsh Government. You can read more about that and see some of the baby lambs that were rescued here.
