A cold snap has well and truly arrived across the UK, and apparently, there’s even a “possibility of snow” before the week’s out too.
With December just a few days away now, it really is beginning to look a lot like Christmas, as far as the weather is concerned, as the temperatures have plummeted over the last few days, and these cold conditions are only set to continue as the week goes on.
In case you hadn’t heard, the UKHSA has already issued a yellow cold-health alert for the health sector covering northern regions of England – including Greater Manchester.
This alert is now in place, and remains throughout the whole week.
But do we have a ‘white December’ (if that’s even a ‘thing’) in store? And what are the chances of snow actually falling across our region this week? The Met Office has now given an update on what we can expect.
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Conditions across the UK are forecast to turn colder with the prospect of snow for later in the week.
According to the Met Office, we’ll all probably need to wrap up warm for the foreseeable, as colder air is feeding in from the north across many parts of the UK over the next few days, and this is bringing with it the potential for wintry showers in some North Sea coastal areas, as well as some inland parts of northern Britain too.
“After some rain on Monday, conditions will turn mainly dry for a time, before a very uncertain period on Thursday and Friday,” explained David Oliver, who is the Met Office’s Deputy Chief Meteorologist.
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He then added: “The weather models are highlighting several possible solutions, from very wet to mainly dry, with a mainly dry picture the most probable outcome at present.”
How likely is snow this week?
The wintery conditions may also bring “some snow and ice impacts” along with them, and then towards the end of the week and over the weekend, there’s “a possibility of snow” too, according to the Met Office – but weather forecasters say this is “far from certain”.
Going on to give an insight on the probability of snow, Mr Oliver then said: “Snow in any affected area is unlikely to be anything more than transient and short-lived,
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“But it could lead to small totals and some disruption over a few hours before melting.”
Met Office gives update on ‘possibility of snow’ as cold snap hits UK this weeks / Credit: Geograph | Pexels
Is snow in early December common?
It’s probably not that hard to believe, but snowfall in late autumn or early winter is becoming increasingly less common nowadays, and according to the Met Office, it “doesn’t generally linger” when it does occur too.
Meteorologists say this is because ground temperatures remain relatively high after the warmer summer months, especially compared with values in late winter after the ground loses more of its warmth.
Alex Sanderson summons Rudyard Kipling as Sale Sharks scrape into the semi-finals
Danny Jones
Director of Rugby Alex Sanderson referenced the famous Rudyard Kipling after Sale Sharks managed to book their place in the playoffs of this year’s Gallagher Premiership following a nail-biter of a fixture against Exeter Chiefs.
The Sharks sealed their spot in the semi-finals with a 30-26 win over the Chiefs on Saturday night, with a trio of tries, a singular pen and calmness when it came to conversions proving just enough to make it to full time.
Speaking on the narrow score at Sandy Park, Sanderson himself applauded that same composure during his post-match duties, casually quoting Kipling ahead of the next big game.
Writing on social media after nerves had just about settled, the club simply said: “Apologies for raising the heart rate, Sharks Family… but Saturday we go again.”
Beginning with an expression of that same defiant spirit that has seen them across the line on so many occasions, the 45-year-old told TNT Sports, “We got another Monday in us.”
The Sale Sharks coach went on to add: “So if you can keep your head, when everybody else is losing theirs – I think that’s the old Rudyard Kipling poem – you’re in such a better place on the back of that, knowing what we can fix from the Leicester game and what we can do better from today.”
It’s not every day you hear sportsmen calling up the poetic words of the beloved British-India writer, but it certainly impressed plenty of supporters, though Sanderson has always been popular among fans for his candour and charisma in interviews.
Ultimately, it was Rekeiti Ma’asi-White, Bevan Rodd, Luke Cowan-Dickie and George Ford that the Greater Manchester outfit had to thank for the electrifying finish
You can see how much it meant, clear as day…
Not done yet…
Thank you for your support Sharks Family, it’s truly appreciated!
Sale Sharks will now take on Leicester Tigers (who the local side finished just behind in third place following the result against the Chiefs) in the Premiership semis as they look to get revenge for previous painful meetings
Are you feeling hopeful, Sharks Family?
You can see the full highlights from Sale Sharks’ tense victory over the Exeter Chiefs down below.
Alex Sanderson channelled Rudyard Kipling and Sale scrapped like true Sharks.
‘The average cost of a pint’ in the UK by region, according to the latest data
Danny Jones
Does it feel like pints keep getting more and more expensive almost every week at this point? Yes. Yes, it does, and while you can’t expect a city as big as Manchester to be one of the cheapest places to get one in the UK, we do often wonder how it compares to other parts of the country.
Well, as it happens, someone has recently crunched the numbers for us across the nation, breaking down which regions pay the most and the least for their pints.
The data has been examined by business management consultancy firm, CGA Strategy, using artificial intelligence and information from the latest Retail Price Index figures to find out what the ‘average cost of a pint’ is down south, up North and everywhere in between.
While the latest statistics provided by the group aren’t granular enough to educate us on Greater Manchester’s pint game exactly, we can show you how our particular geographic region is looking on the leaderboard at the moment.
That’s right, we Mancunians and the rest of the North West are technically joint mid-table when it comes to the lowest average cost of a pint, sharing the places from 3rd to 8th – according to CGA, anyway.
Powered by consumer intelligence company, NIQ (NielsenIQ) – who also use AI and the latest technology to deliver their insights – we can accept it might seem like it’s been a while since you’ve paid that little for a pint, especially in the city centre, but these are the stats they have published.
Don’t shoot the messenger, as they say; unless, of course, they’re trying to rob you blind for a bev. Fortunately, we’ve turned bargain hunting at Manchester bars into a sport at this point.
We might not boast the lowest ‘average’ pint cost in the UK, but we still have some bloody good places to keep drinking affordable.
London tops the charts (pretends to be shocked)
While some of you may have scratched your eyes at the supposed average pint prices here in the North West, it won’t surprise any of you to see that London leads the way when it came to the most expensive pint when it came to average cost in the UK.
To be honest, £5.44 doesn’t just sound cheap but virtually unheard of these days.
CGA has it that the average cost of a beer in the British capital is actually down 15p from its price last September, but as we all know, paying upwards of £7 for a pint down that end of the country is pretty much par for the course the closer you get to London.
Yet more reason you can be glad you live around here, eh? And in case you thought you were leaving this article with very little, think again…
Emily Sergeant -
28th November 2023 
