The next few days are expected to be rather chilly. But after it’s warmed up at the start of next week don’t hide your woolies away too efficiently – we could be hit by an Arctic blast of snow!
There is some warming of the stratosphere predicted in the second half of the month – and that could change weather patterns to bring us snow like last year.
However experts Norwich-based Weatherquest said it is too early to predict an icy blast – and there is nothing particularly unusual about this weather phenomenon.
Forecaster Dan Holley said: “It is a possibility that we could get some cold weather in the second half of January, but these kind of warming events happen every other year or so and quite often it doesn’t have any major effect on the weather.
“So we will have to wait and see what happens before we get too worried about a snow event.”
Heavy snow is still relatively unusual in East Anglia – last winter was the first time there had been widespread disruption because of snowed-up roads for several years.
And before the risk of snow hits the county, the weather is expected to remain typical for January in East Anglia for the next 14 or so days.
The weather is expected to be colder this weekend – but is then expected to get milder again at the start of next week, with temperatures rising to 8C or 9C. That is the average daytime temperature for January in East Anglia.
A spokesman for Suffolk Highways said they were monitoring the weather over the next few days and may be doing gritting runs for the first time since Christmas Eve.
He added: “We’ve heard the reports about the end of the month. We have detailed forecasts that come in and are ready for whatever is thrown at us.
“We are fully stocked with grit and our team of drivers is ready to go out whenever they are needed – so far it has been quite mild but we’re ready for whatever we get.”
Last year’s snow did not hit East Anglia until later in the winter. January was windy and wetter than usual – but apart from a few frosts, cold was not a serious problem.
The “Beast from East” arrived in late February and continued into early March – but only caused problems for a few days before the snow disappeared.
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