Brits are set to face blizzards with heavy snow and 70mph winds when Storm Gladys hits as 'danger to life warnings' remain in place.
There is more extreme weather ahead for the UK following Storms Dudley and Eunice where record 122mph gales were recorded in the south of England.
Now maps from WX weather show that the temperature could fall as low as -8C in the early hours of Friday with the Met Office saying there could be 30cm of snow falling.
Heavy rain has led to severe flood warnings by the Met Office where there is a “danger to life” alert and they remain in place on the River Severn at the Wharfage, Ironbridge, and Wribbenhall, Bewdley.
But there are also over 70 flood warnings around the UK.
With the weather having been relatively mild at the start of the week, the temperatures are expected to tumble over the coming days with the arrival of Storm Gladys on Wednesday and bringing with it wind and heavy snow.
There are yellow warnings for Wednesday and Thursday with up to 30cm of snow falling and winds reaching 70mph - that could cause more damage on top of that already brought about by previous storms.
The wind and snow warning covers north and central Scotland as well as Northern Ireland.
The Met Office states: “Frequent heavy snow showers are expected, along with very gusty winds and a small chance of frequent lightning affecting some places.”
People are told: “There is a small chance of injuries and danger to life from flying debris.
“There is a slight chance of some damage to buildings, such as tiles blown from roofs.
“There is a small chance of longer journey times or cancellations as road, rail, air and ferry services are affected. There is also a chance some vehicles and passengers could become stranded.
“There is a slight chance that power cuts may occur, with the potential to affect other services such as mobile phone coverage. There is a small chance that some roads and bridges could close.
“There is a slight chance that some rural communities could become cut off. The wind warning goes further down and covers the north of England."
Met Office forecaster Alex Deakin said that it will be frosty start for Wednesday morning and some bright skies before rain comes from a weather front moving in from the north west.
“All the time the winds are picking up and we are a bit concerned about the winds coming over the Pennines and increasing the gusts and so across the far north east of England and into Scotland we could see gusts of 50mph, possibly for a time 60mph and after recent storms that could cause some disruption,” he said.
"The colder weather is arriving behind the next cold front and that is the next area for concern as we see the weather turning more and more wintry in the North West. The snow showers coming down increasingly to lower levels as we go through the day.
“We could easily see 2cm to 5cm (of snow) even at low levels in this yellow warning area but maybe as much as 7cm to 10cm and over hills easily 20cm and maybe 30cm.
"These are showers so they are going to be hit and miss ... and with these winds whipping up again, particularly for Northern Ireland and western Scotland on the coasts, 60mph, maybe in exposed areas 70mph winds.
"So again we could see some disruption from that, after structures have been weakened but also it is going to blow the snow around so we are going to see blizzards, we are going to see some pretty horrible driving conditions if you get caught in one of those heavy snow showers.”
UK forecast for the next 5 days
Today:
Many central and southern areas will be dry with some sunshine, but increasingly breezy with isolated showers. Windy in the north, with showers and some longer spells of rain, some heavy, clearing to wintry showers in the far north later.
Tonight:
Rain moving south, still affecting southern areas of by morning and possibly turning to sleet near the back edge. Cold and windy with sleet, snow and hail showers further north.
Thursday:
Rain and sleet clearing, then windy with sunny intervals and blustery wintry showers, with further snow accumulating over hills and briefly at lower levels in the north.
Outlook for Friday to Sunday:
Wintry showers early Friday clearing to leave a fine, blustery day. Thereafter, much of England and Wales dry; frost by night. Windier, with rain at times in the northwest.
