Map shows where snow and ice will hit as Met Office issues new weather warning

The Met Office has issued a snow and ice warning for parts of the UK which is also expected to bring rare freezing rain.

The yellow weather warning is in place for southern and central parts of Scotland and is in place until 12pm today.

This includes areas like Glasgow, Edinburgh and the Scottish Borders, and the weather could disrupt road, bus and train services.

It also brings the risk of freezing rain and five centimeters of snow which can bring down trees and power lines.

Freezing rain is when raindrops freeze almost instantly as they hit a surface.

It is rare in the UK and occurs when snowflakes melt through warm air and quickly pass through a thin layer of freezing air before hitting the ground.

This results in the surface being encased in a layer of clear ice which can turn roads into ice rinks or be heavy enough to pull down trees, the Met Office says.

The conditions for freezing rain are uncommon in the UK and are typically seen in other parts of the world such as the US.

But it is not all bad news because from Wednesday temperatures could begin to rise, possibly reaching an above-average 15-16°C for parts of the country on Friday.

Stephen Dixon, spokesman for the Met Office said: ‘Much of the country will see temperatures above average for the time of year. So even in the north of Scotland on Thursday and Friday, you could get up to 14°C.’

The average temperature for this time of year is 7.2°C, however, the jump in temperature is not unusual as spring approaches.

Mr Dixon said: ‘It’s not massively unusual. These kinds of weather patterns happen in the UK.

‘We’re often in the kind of battleground between different weather regimes, and that’s the case this week as we see that shifting influence on our weather.’

He added: ‘While temperatures are on the rise and temperatures themselves will feel much more spring-like, the weather won’t feel spring-like with wet and windy weather for many on Thursday.’

Much of the country will see rain fall through the day along with stronger winds particularly for those in the West from Thursday.

This will continue into Friday across Wales, the west of Scotland, northern England and parts of the South West while those further south, particularly in the South East, will see some sunshine.

Get in touch with our news team by emailing us at [email protected].

For more stories like this, check our news page.

MORE: Map shows where the UK will be hottest this week after bitter cold snap

MORE: Map reveals coldest places in UK today with rare weather event on the way

MORE: Met Office warns of rare weather phenomenon set to hit the UK this weekend