Cold, Snow for the United Kingdom

By Alex Sosnowski, Expert Senior Meteorologist

January 17,2013; 6:06PM,EST

A storm from the Atlantic Ocean combined with colder-than-average conditions will bring accumulating snow to part of the United Kingdom.
Snow is forecast to fall over much of England and Wales during the day Friday.
According to World Weather Expert Jim Andrews, "The heaviest snow is likely to fall from the Welsh Highlands to the West Midlands, where a half a foot of snow can fall."
Heavy snow will fall around Birmingham with some snow likely to reach London.
A pattern known as a Scandinavian Block is allowing moderately cold air to hang on over much of Europe.
In much of England and Wales, high temperatures will be the low to middle 30s (Fahrenheit) into next week. Normal highs are generally in the lower 40s.
In this pattern, high pressure hovers near Scandinavia and forces storms that roll in from the Northern Atlantic Ocean to drop southward or re-form over the Mediterranean Sea.

"The pattern tends to favor snow over rain in a large part of the U.K. and can occasionally bring snow to the Mediterranean Basin of southern Europe," Andrews said.
The Pyrennes, southern Alps, the mountains in Italy's Boot and the mountains in the Balkan Peninsula can also receive their share rounds of heavy snow.

AccuWeather.com discussed the change in the weather pattern last week in "Colder, Snowier Conditions Coming to Europe."