Ernie Clark. Hilperton Division, Wiltshire Council.

The situation has improved slightly.
The situation regarding the severe weather conditions has improved slighty for the time being. However, we are not completely out of the woods just yet, the following was received from the WC Met Office advisor yesterday:

Met Office expects the very cold weather to continue to affect Southwest of England across the weekend.

Saturday and Saturday night. Another very cold day, temperatures struggling to rise above freezing and a penetrating wind giving a significant windchill, and perhaps some slight drifting of the existing snow cover, further chance of a few light snow flurries, but again no significant fresh snow accumulations. Another bitterly cold night with significant windchill.

Sunday and Sunday night. Bitterly cold, strong easterly winds and outbreaks of mainly light snow affecting all Southwest England LRF areas throughout the day. For most places accumulations of another 1-2 cm of fresh snow is entirely possible. There may be some more moderate pulses of snow bringing perhaps another 5-10cm to some locations, although we are unable to predict where these might be, but in general snow accumulations will not be as large or as rapid as the snowfall earlier this week. The strength of the wind will give wind chill temperatures of -10 Celsius or lower even during the day. Anyone outside without appropriate winter clothing is going to get very cold very quickly.

Monday and Monday Night. Still windy with outbreaks of mostly light snow, but conditions steadily easing throughout the day as winds gradually drop away.

The outlook for the rest of next week looks cold with a potential for further falls of snow. There are some hints that we will start to see a gradual transition to milder conditions across the western half of the UK from mid month onwards, but the likelihood is this transition period will be accompanied by further disruptive spells snowfalls.