0:00:02 > 0:00:04Hello, it's been called the Beast from the East
0:00:04 > 0:00:07and some said at the start of this week it arrived with only a whimper.
0:00:07 > 0:00:09"Where's my snow?" they said. Well, now clearly it's found its voice
0:00:09 > 0:00:12and you know that if you're in Scotland's central belt,
0:00:12 > 0:00:15where on Wednesday the Met Office issued a red warning, the highest
0:00:15 > 0:00:18level for snow and the first for snow in the UK for four years,
0:00:18 > 0:00:19and Edinburgh very much in the zone.
0:00:19 > 0:00:23And the severe travel disruption will continue on into Thursday.
0:00:23 > 0:00:24We've seen this before.
0:00:24 > 0:00:28The snow showers coming in on a bitterly cold flow from the east,
0:00:28 > 0:00:32but look at the circulation in the atmosphere to the south of the UK.
0:00:32 > 0:00:35Anticlockwise around an area of low pressure.
0:00:35 > 0:00:37Here it is, it's been called Storm Emma,
0:00:37 > 0:00:41and it's about to shunt its moisture northwards into that cold air,
0:00:41 > 0:00:44and that means for some of us, Thursday into Friday, not just
0:00:44 > 0:00:49snow showers but a longer spell of more persistent snow on the way.
0:00:49 > 0:00:52But it's certainly a messy situation wherever you are for Thursday
0:00:52 > 0:00:56morning but particularly in those parts of Scotland, seeing the
0:00:56 > 0:01:00heaviest and most frequent snow showers as the snow piles up.
0:01:00 > 0:01:02Parts of north-east England, too, with those snow showers.
0:01:02 > 0:01:05And then southern England into Wales, cloudier skies and outbreaks
0:01:05 > 0:01:09of snow developing here on another bitterly cold day wherever you are,
0:01:09 > 0:01:13the wind picking up in the south, so wind chill in Cardiff,
0:01:13 > 0:01:16for example, it will feel like -10.
0:01:16 > 0:01:18It's the first day of March, the first day of
0:01:18 > 0:01:21meteorological spring. Remarkable doesn't quite cover it.
0:01:21 > 0:01:24And then the snow really gets going later Thursday, Thursday night,
0:01:24 > 0:01:28particularly across parts of south-west England and Wales,
0:01:28 > 0:01:31where there's a Met Office amber "be prepared" warning in force.
0:01:31 > 0:01:35And not just heavy, disruptive snow in places but drifting and potential
0:01:35 > 0:01:38blizzards in the strong wind here, and perhaps the slightly less cold
0:01:38 > 0:01:42air begins to reach in from the south, some at risk of seeing
0:01:42 > 0:01:45freezing rain, too, so some nasty icy conditions
0:01:45 > 0:01:48going into Friday morning. And still all the while,
0:01:48 > 0:01:50the snow showers are peppering eastern Scotland.
0:01:50 > 0:01:53And then a broader area of snow from south-east England,
0:01:53 > 0:01:55perhaps into parts of Northern Ireland for a time on Friday.
0:01:55 > 0:01:57Within this zone, varying intensities
0:01:57 > 0:02:00but a good few centimetres in some spots
0:02:00 > 0:02:01and of course travel disruption.
0:02:01 > 0:02:05All of that feeding northwards Friday night into Saturday morning,
0:02:05 > 0:02:06weakening as it does so.
0:02:06 > 0:02:09But it's still further snow and then the hint of another disturbance
0:02:09 > 0:02:11coming to the south on Saturday.
0:02:11 > 0:02:14Again, reaching into that cold air, on its northern flank
0:02:14 > 0:02:18it'll start to produce snow as we go Saturday night and into Sunday.
0:02:18 > 0:02:20It is less cold the further south you are,
0:02:20 > 0:02:22especially into the Channel Islands.
0:02:22 > 0:02:25We have a broad area of low pressure to the south-west of us
0:02:25 > 0:02:27through the weekend into the start of next week
0:02:27 > 0:02:30just chucking off little smaller disturbances at times
0:02:30 > 0:02:33which take the moisture northwards across the UK.
0:02:33 > 0:02:37And there is a battle to see how long the cold air lasts
0:02:37 > 0:02:39and the milder air takes over at some stage next week.
0:02:39 > 0:02:41Look at the circulation around the low pressure here.
0:02:41 > 0:02:44We're still in the blue, even though the wind flow here for some appears
0:02:44 > 0:02:46to be from the south. What's going on?
0:02:46 > 0:02:49Well, we have enough cold air coming in from the south-east
0:02:49 > 0:02:52going around the area of low pressure.
0:02:52 > 0:02:54And look, it just comes back into the UK.
0:02:54 > 0:02:57It's become less cold as it does so but we're never really
0:02:57 > 0:03:00tapping into some milder Atlantic air from the south-west,
0:03:00 > 0:03:04which is why although it's less cold, it is still cold enough next
0:03:04 > 0:03:06week to bring the risk of further snow.
0:03:06 > 0:03:09We know it's unsettled cos it's low pressure, it'll be wet and windy
0:03:09 > 0:03:12at times, we know there's a bit of a battle going on for when
0:03:12 > 0:03:15and how long it'll take to get that milder air into the UK,
0:03:15 > 0:03:18but as long as that battle takes place next week, there is
0:03:18 > 0:03:20a risk of seeing some further snow,
0:03:20 > 0:03:24mainly across the northern half of the UK, but maybe not only here.
0:03:24 > 0:03:28The Beast from the East is in. It's in no hurry to go home.