UK weather: why you may be warming to the prospect of Easter abroad

Any family looking for an excuse to escape abroad over the Easter break has one now: the weather is going to be miserable.

A woman walks through a blizzard near the A23 service station at Pease Pottage where motorist spent the night

10:46PM GMT 13 Mar 2013

The cold snap will last until the middle of next month, forecasters said, as heavy rain combines with lower-than-average temperatures. The end of the week will be slightly warmer, with highs of 42.8F (6C), but temperatures will remain several degrees below average.

It bears sharp contrast to the 64.4F (18C) that parts of the country experienced this time last year.
Next week will bring more snow in many parts, forecasters said, while others will see heavy rain.Over the Easter weekend, the country will be “colder than average” with some heavy rainfall.

On Tuesday Eurostar cancelled all of its services due to heavy snow across northern Europe. There could be further delays in the days ahead. Ice and 7in of snow made roads across the South East impassable, with 3ft high drifts in 50mph winds. Thousands of motorists were trapped in their cars for up to 15 hours on Monday night because of snow, including the singer Cheryl Baker, who described the situation as “ridiculous” as she drove from Tunbridge Wells to Brighton.

In East Sussex a family with a nine-month-old baby had to be rescued from a snow drift, and in south London a 27-year-old man was critically ill after a telegraph pole fell on him in high winds. The Highways Agency said efforts to clear the roads were completed only around lunch time. Five hundred passengers aboard an Irish ferry spent almost 20 hours at sea and arrived in Cherbourg, France, yesterday, 24 hours late. Jersey airport was closed after 6in of snow fell.

The Met Office warned of treacherous conditions this morning on the roads as surface water left by sleet and rain was likely to freeze overnight.