Greater Manchester could see ‘first snow of the season’ next week, Met Office says

With Halloween and Bonfire Night out of the way the countdown to Christmas has begun for a lot of people (of course some Grinches won’t acknowledge the festive season until deep into December).

And what comes to mind when we think of the big day? Snow, despite the fact that we very rarely have a White Christmas here – the last widespread Christmas snowfall in the UK was back in 2010.

While we’ll have to wait to see if we’ll be blessed with a White Christmas this year, we could be seeing the first snow of autumn as early as next week here in Greater Manchester.

Dai O’Nysuius / Wikimedia

According to forecasters, some hilly parts of our region might see some snow as the weather turns colder, as the rain could become ‘sleet or snow’ in some areas.

A Met Office spokesperson told the Manchester Evening News: “We are expecting temperatures to turn colder next week with potentially some cloudy and drizzly weather.

“With the colder temperatures it is possible that some of that drizzle or rain could fall as sleet or snow over higher ground the further north you go such as the Pennines or the Peak District.”

Stephen Gidley / Flickr

According to the Met Office forecast for Saturday November 20th to Monday 29th we might see ‘wintry showers’: “A cold and potentially cloudy and drizzly start to this period in the north, with some wintry showers following over high ground.

“Winds will often be blowing between the west and north.

“High pressure will often affect southern areas, bringing largely settled and dry conditions here, this possibly extending countrywide at times.

“However, some spells of rain are likely to affect northern areas, accompanied by brisk winds.

“There is likely a trend towards colder conditions later in the period, with a risk of wintry showers, mainly in the north.”

EthelRedThePetrolHead / Flickr

Then as we move into December and towards the festive period, Greater Manchester could experience a ‘risk of snow and ice.’

The BBC is also forecasting light snow and sleet for Oldham on Saturday November 27th, with some sleet across the rest of the region.