‘Wintry showers’ could be on way next week, say forecasters - will it snow soon?

Suffolk Highways' gritter fleet is ready to tackle ice on the county's roads Picture: SUFFOLK HIGHWAYS (Image: Suffolk Highways)

Phil Garner, a forecaster at Weatherquest, which is based in East Anglia, said: "We could get one or two wintry showers in the middle of next week, around Wednesday, January 22."

He said there were early indications of isolated sleet showers, but added these were long-term forecasts and could change.

"It looks as if there will be daytime temperatures of around 4C to 5C next Tuesday and Wednesday, and at night we could get -2 to -3."

Mr Garner added: "At the moment it looks unlikely that we will get snow in January, but I would be surprised if we didn't get some in February."

He said that rain was expected tonight and showers tomorrow, but the weather was forecast to be dry and sunny over the weekend and on Monday.

Last night saw falling temperatures in the area, and Suffolk Highways was originally planning to send out its team of gritters to treat priority 1 routes in the west, central and Ipswich areas.

However, following an evening review, Suffolk Highways tweeted that the gritter runs were cancelled because road surface temperatures rose above 1C.