Polar vortex 'bomb' set to unleash 15 days of snow

Usually it's just a cold snap – but this year weather forecasters say a "snow bomb" is set to hit Britain this January thanks to an incoming polar vortex.

Meteorologists said we could be in for 15 days of intense cold weather, with snow covering the country for the first half of January.

People living in rural parts of Scotland and the north of England in particular should brace for an onslaught of snowy weather, in the first weeks of 2024.

Most people hoping for a white Christmas were left disappointed amid temperatures of 12 degrees Celsius in England, despite a smattering of snow over parts of Scotland.

And the final part of 2023 is set to be typically British too, with rain and wind set to batter the country on Wednesday and Thursday.

The weather agency has issued eight separate yellow alerts coming in from the early hours of Wednesday morning, hailing gusts of up to 60mph and lashings of rain.

Chief Meteorologist Frank Saunders said: "Storm Gerrit will run towards [the] western UK on Wednesday and bring with it potential impacts for much of the country.

"Winds across southern coastal areas of England will be strong, possibly peaking around 70 mph on exposed coastlines, but more widely around 50-60 mph.

"Rain is an additional hazard from Storm Gerrit, with active weather fronts leading to a wet day for many.

"Snow is also likely to cause problems for some northern areas: only briefly for a few upland routes across the Pennines and southern Scotland overnight and early on Wednesday, but more widely to the north of the Central Lowlands later in the day."

"There's some potential there for wintry hazards, more so than the past few years for January."

Time to crack out the gloves and woolly hats.

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