Britain is bracing itself for another barrage of snow and flooding this week... while expats sunbathe in record temperatures on the sunny Spanish Costas.
Up to eight inches of snow is expected to fall in parts of the UK next week as temperatures drop in places to a shuddering -15C compared to nearly 30 degrees in Spain.
More than 80 flood warnings were in place across the UK on Saturday across central and Northern regions of the UK.
Weather warnings for snow, ice and rain will remain in force on Sunday and the cold conditions will move further north into next week, with the potential for 20cm of snow in places before midweek, a Met Office forecaster has said.
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Meteorologist Simon Partridge said: “We’ve got this band of rain sleet and snow that’s moving across much of England and Wales through today, that is a real messy mix.”
The picture varied across the country yesterday, with much of Devon and Cornwall under a yellow warning for rain, with predictions that as much as 25mm could fall by the end of the day.
Other southern areas were wet, but further north sleet, rain and hill snow have triggered flood warnings.
Pictures from Gloucestershire this morning showed a children’s playgroundy submerged in Tewkesbury and vehicles driving through rising floodwaters in Lower Applerlay.
There were similar scenes in Henley on Thames in Oxfordshire, where water was seen rising on to the towpath, surrounding benches and approaching riverside homes.
As the rain and sleet moves away overnight Sunday, the risk of ice persists, with central England and Wales faced with a further yellow weather warning today.
Temperatures will drop as low as minus 6C overnight in England, and the potential for the mercury to fall to between minus 10C and minus 15C in parts of Scotland.
But in sunny Spain, the Costa Blanca capital of Alicante recorded its highest-ever temperature for a January day on Friday, less than three weeks after a cold snap brought its lowest temperatures in 20 years.
Locals and British expats sunbathed as if it was summer as temperatures reached an astonishing 29.8C (85F) - the highest January temperature since official records began in 1858.
But no such luck for the Uk next week although Monday and Tuesday will be chilly but settled.
Mr Partridge said: “It gets a bit more interesting as we go into Tuesday and the middle of the week.”
“A band of much heavier rain to arrive overnight on Monday into Tuesday which will quickly turn to snow as it bumps up against cold air.”
Northern England and parts of Wales could see snow “pretty much anywhere” with 1cm to 5cm likely at lower levels and 5cm to 10cm possible in the hills.
The highest areas could get “up to 20cm or so though the course of the day” and Mr Partridge predicted that Trans-Pennine routes in particular could have some issues on Tuesday.
The same band of wintry weather will move northwards towards Wednesday and take the weather warnings for snow with it, with the central belt of Scotland most likely to see disruption.
