Weather maps have shown a late spring Arctic plume heading for the UK, just weeks after Britons celebrated the first double-digit temperatures of 2023. The mercury could plummet back into the low minus range by mid-spring, with people left reaching for their winter jackets in -10C lows. Weather maps suggest the coming system could even spark some wintry, but most likely transient showers across higher ground.Â
The weather maps from WXCharts show that April will start mild, with the trend of 12C to 15C highs enduring through next week. The service, which uses data from MetDesk, shows temperatures dropping to 0C overnight before rising by 10C or more during the day.
But from Tuesday, April 11, the mercury will start going in the opposite direction. Charts show a chilly plume gravitating from Western Europe will make its way over the UK from 6pm that evening.
As it arrives, the system will send temperatures plummeting to -4C and below in Scotland, northern England and along the east coast at Norfolk.
By the following morning on Wednesday, April 12, the charts show lows of -6C to -7C in the same places, while elsewhere drops to -5C.
The sudden and complete reversal of current temperature trends lasts for just one whole day, Friday, April 14.
The country will warm up as the day wears on, rising to -5C before more warming over the weekend.
While temperatures will rise again towards -1C and 0C, the system appears set to deposit some snow.
The weather charts show low totals forming between April 13 and 15, with likely less than 1cm over the affected areas, which include most of Wales, parts of southeast England, northeast England and central Scotland.
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WXCharts forecasts only run to Monday, April 17, when maps show temperatures should rise to between 1C and 5C.
While the data indicates a potentially dramatic spell of weather in mid-April, experts stress that far-off predictions are less trustworthy.
The Met Office forecast deviates significantly from WXCharts maps, with the agency predicting temperatures will remain “close to or a little above average”.
The forecasters added that confidence in forecasts beyond April 16 is “quite low”.
From April 16 to 30, the Met Office long-range forecast says in full: “Confidence in the forecast remains quite low for the second half of April.
“There is potential for more widely unsettled and perhaps windy weather at first, otherwise the chance of rain will be higher further to the south through this period.
“Meanwhile higher pressure to the north may provide higher chances of drier weather. It is most likely that temperatures will be close to, or just above average.”
