UK to be hit by 'snow bomb' - exact date and time and will Sussex and Surrey be impacted?

The Met Office has already predicted that we can expect snow in the UK in the coming days as ‘colder than average conditions’ continue but a new map suggests that a snow bomb which is the width of England is due to travel across the UK imminently.

Temperatures dropped to below freezing overnight, in parts of the UK, on Friday and Saturday.

According to a weather map on WX Charts, the snow bomb will hit England next Thursday, November 30, at around 9am. The maps from WX Charts show large patches of purple, which symbolises snow, covering the UK.

The snow bomb is expected to cover the UK from Cardiff to London and up to Manchester – as well as along the west coast. There could be snow levels of up to 6cm an hour and a wave of rain with up to 5mm of rain an hour. Temperatures are forecast to be between -2C and 5C on Thursday.

Some snow could arrive in northern parts of the UK as early as Wednesday (November 29), but any snow that does fall across the country is expected to clear by late on Friday (December 1), according to WX Charts.

Met Office experts have said that the chances of the UK being completely covered in the white stuff are small – but there is indeed still a chance.

The Met Office’s deputy chief meteorologist, Dan Harris, said: “At present, the most likely outcome beyond mid-week is that rain from the west slowly moves east, with snow possible over higher ground, and a continued risk of showers over eastern parts. However, there is a chance that a more active weather system arrives from the southwest, which would bring more widespread rain, stronger winds, and the potential for more significant snowfall should the air over the UK become sufficiently cold ahead of it.

“Either way, a continuation of colder than average conditions seems most likely, more details will become clear over the coming days and, as you would expect, we will be monitoring developments in the forecast closely.”

The London & South East England weather forecast suggests that the ‘persistent rain’ experienced on Monday will ease later on.

"Rain clearing to the southwest Monday evening with further showery rain arriving from the north,” the forecast read.

"Becoming largely dry in the early hours although some heavier showers may affect coastal Kent. Minimum temperature 4 °C.”

On Tuesday, it will be ‘mostly dry and bright with long sunny spells’ but the ‘odd shower may clip southeastern coasts’, the Met Office said.

The forecast continued: “Feeling cooler. Cloudier towards dawn. Maximum temperature 6 °C.

“Sunny periods and isolated showers Wednesday. Cloudier Thursday and Friday as an area of heavy rain makes uncertain northeastward progress, possibly falling as snow over higher hills. Becoming cold. Breezy.”

The Met Office said outbreaks of rain and ‘perhaps some hill snow’ could affect ‘parts of southeast England’ on Friday ‘before clearing to the east later in the day’.

“Elsewhere, a mixture of sunny spells and showers, with these showers most frequent near coasts,” a spokesperson said.

"They are likely to be wintry in places, particularly further north where some snow could fall to low levels. Over the weekend and into the start of the following week, cold conditions are expected across the bulk of the UK.

"Showers will develop, these a mixture of rain, sleet and perhaps snow at times. Some inland areas, especially in the south, could be mainly dry and bright. Later in the week there is an increasing chance that milder, more changeable weather will begin to spread in from the west.”