Start of British Summer Time marked with snow showers

The east of England has welcomed British Summer Time with flurries of snow after the UK enjoyed a period of warm weather.

People in eastern areas woke up to wintry showers on Sunday morning – in a marked change from the sunny conditions many experienced last week.

Bookmakers have seen a flurry of bets on a white Easter as odds were slashed on snow falling in April.

People took to social media on Sunday morning to tweet about snow falling in several areas, including West Yorkshire, Norfolk and Kent.

Boxer Nicola Adams tweeted a video, in which she could be heard saying: “Is that snow? Oh well. Good thing I’m inside.”

Greg Dewhurst, senior meteorologist with the Met Office, said eastern England would experience wintry showers throughout Sunday but the weather would become warmer and cloudier next week.

He said: “It’s a big contrast today compared to last week.

“We’ve got a mixture of rain, sleet and snow showers across eastern England at the moment and they will continue for the rest of the day.

“There’s a cold north-easterly wind adding to the cold feel, there’s some hail, but there’s some sunny spells as well.”

Mr Dewhurst said the snow was unlikely to settle at low levels and the sunny spells should melt any snow on higher ground.

The forecaster said western areas, Northern Ireland and the majority of Scotland will stay dry on Sunday but temperatures across the UK are unlikely to reach double figures.

He said: “The good news is that cold feel doesn’t last too long over the coming days. As we go into next week, it tends to stay on the cloudy side, so not the blue skies of last week, but temperatures will climb up a little, with highs of between 11C (51.8F) and 12C (53.6F).”

Mr Dewhurst said the changeable weather at this time of year meant it was too early to predict the weather for the Easter weekend, despite punters placing bets on snow.

Bookmaker Coral said it is taking bets on next month being the coldest ever April as it had a surge of people betting on snow during the month and over Easter.

Coral spokesman John Hill said: “Temperatures have taken a big drop over the last couple of days and, with a wintry wind to go with them, punters have been rushing in to back snow to fall in April.

“We have also seen a strong surge of bets on snow falling during the Easter weekend and for next month to be the coldest April on record in the UK.”

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