UK faces 300-mile long snow storm on 'darkest day of 2024'

Some parts of the UK are set to see heaps of the white stuff as the weather turns colder in the run-up to Christmas, according to advanced weather modelling maps

Britain could be pummelled by a 300-mile long snow storm on the darkest day of the year, new weather maps show.

Brits face heaps of the white stuff as the weather turns colder in the run-up to Christmas, according to the new predictions from WXCharts. The forecasts show a wall of snow pummelling the UK on Saturday, December 21, which also happens to be the winter solstice - the shortest day of the year.

The snow will hit Scotland before moving southwards and hitting northern England as well as the Midlands, the maps suggest. The Met Office has also predicted a plunge in temperatures this week with snow forecast for some areas.

The mercury is set to fall below freezing by the end of this week with snow forecast in Scotland, the Met Office has predicted. Other forecasters also point to chilly conditions by the weekend. "Temperatures will tend to fluctuate around the seasonal average, with some milder interludes, especially for the south, interspersed with colder polar maritime north-westerlies,” according to Netweather.

"The general trend is expected to be for it to turn colder as the week progresses, with potential for some snowfalls on high ground, especially in the north, and possibly at lower levels in central and northern parts of Britain on occasion, most likely late in the week."

The Met Office’s Honor Criswic said: "Plenty of showers around coast of Scotland, Northern Ireland, plenty of blustery showers, too. It's going to feel quite chilly here as well. So some showers perhaps falling as snow over the high ground of Scotland."

In the short term, the weather is expected to stay mild until the middle of the week with a system of low pressure keeping a blanket of cloud over much of the UK which should keep temperatures relatively warm, albeit rainy and grey. Later in the week, this will move on and temperatures are set to get much colder as we approach the winter solstice.