This autumn has so far been largely dry and cool, but according to some alarming headlines this could all be about to change, with reports that the UK could be hit by the first snows of the season. The reality, though, is somewhat different.
It is true that early-season snows have fallen recently over Russia and eastern Europe as cold air has pushed down from the Arctic. When the cold air swept into western Europe, it snowed over Germany, Belgium and the Netherlands on Wednesday. The wintry weather came on the back of an area of low pressure carrying moisture that turned to snow in the cold air, but it did not reach Britain.
Even when there was a slight incursion of wet weather into parts of eastern England on Thursday, the air had warmed up enough to allow rain to fall instead of snow. With high pressure continuing to dominate the UK for a good few days yet, there is no sign of any snow. Conditions are expected to remain largely dry, although there is no denying that it feels chilly, with temperatures as low as minus 3C (27F) at night in some places.
Looking at the broader weather picture, an interesting pattern has developed over the Atlantic. Instead of the usual path of the jet stream tracking in one long ribbon of fast-flowing air, its path has been blocked by the high-pressure system over the UK. Rather like water flowing around a boulder in a river, the jet stream has flowed around the high pressure by splitting into two — one arm sweeping into the Arctic, and the other arm swinging south through Portugal and Spain, bringing heavy downpours of rain.
As for the weather outlook in the rest of Europe, the snows in the north are dying out as the low-pressure system weakens. However, there is another problem — a clash of cold air in the north and warm air in the south around the Mediterranean is setting off heavy rainfalls, which have been especially intense in Italy and the Balkans.
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