The top contenders aren’t all in the Scottish Highlands (Picture: Getty)
As winter approaches, the odds of snow are rising – though people who aren’t fans of it have little to worry about just yet.
The UK is currently in the grip of an unusual phenomenon which causes a distinct lack of noticeable weather.
Experts say ‘anticyclonic gloom’, when high air pressure traps moisture near the Earth’s surface, is responsible for the lack of wind, rain and storms usually seen at this time of year.
It’s also responsible for extremely stubborn cloud cover – with one weather station in Hampshire having recorded exactly zero sunshine so far this month.
Temperatures over the coming week are set to drop sharply – by up to 9°C in some areas – but won’t be within snowy weather territory yet, with overnight lows of 6°C in the coldest regions.
The Met Office has said there is currently ‘no indication of widespread snow’ in the coming weeks, but it’s very difficult to predict in the UK and forecasters are not ruling out snow before Christmas.
Here are the places it’s likeliest to happen, based on the average annual number of days on which they experience snowfall:
1. Cairngorns (Scotland) – 76.2 days per year.
2. Shetland Islands (Scotland) – 64.7 days per year.
3. Fair Isle, (Scotland) – 62.8
4. Orkney Islands (Scotland) – 59.0
5. Copley, County Durham (England) – 52.7
6. Leadhills, South Lanarkshire (Scotland) – 51.6
7. Widdybank Fell, North Pennines, County Durham (England) – 50.2
8. Eskdalemuir, Dumfries and Galloway (Scotland) – 49.8
9. Kinbrace, Scottish Highlands – 49.2
10. Knockanrock, Scottish Highlands – 48.5
Most of the snowiest places are in Scotland, though there are also two in and around the North Pennines
It could well get cold enough for snow to settle in these areas over the coming months, but this doesn’t mean snow will actually fall, experts say.
‘Because of the UK’s location, where the air comes from is incredibly important when it comes to determining if snow is possible,’ the Met Office’s Andrea Bishop told Country Living this week.
‘Being surrounded by water also adds another factor into predicting snow chances in the UK.
‘It may not feel like it if you dip your toe in, but the water in the seas around the UK is well above freezing and that affects the temperature of the air close to the surface which can determine how much snow is in the forecast.’
Get in touch with our news team by emailing us at webnews@metro.co.uk.
For more stories like this, check our news page.
Source:: Metro
