Biting cold set to linger for next few days in Aylesbury Vale with chance of more snow

It’s been a wintery start to the festive season in Aylesbury Vale. Since Tuesday night last week, a frost has been observed every night, including last night.

Throughout last week, temperatures across the UK as a whole have been around 6C below normal, and this is fairly representative of the Vale too.

On Sunday, December 11, the Aylesbury Vale experienced its first ice day of the winter, where maximum temperatures during the day struggled to reach 0C for most areas.

In Wendover, following a night of -5C recorded, the maximum temperatures only rose to -0.9C in the day. This was partly due to the presence of freezing fog and low cloud, acting to prevent any solar radiation reaching the ground.

Freezing fog has been relatively common throughout the last few days too. Freezing fog occurs when the air cools to a point where it can’t hold all of the moisture and so water vapour condenses into water droplets. But because the air is so cold, the water droplets are also freezing and readily form into ice on surrounding surfaces. The ice and frost can be so thick that landscapes and trees covered in it can often look as white as if it had recently snowed.

This biting cold will linger through the next few days with a continuation of the mainly dry conditions. However, later this weekend and into next week, low pressure is expected to barrel in from the west, bringing milder but more unsettled conditions.

There is a chance that, just ahead of any incoming rain bands, some leading-edge snow will be possible.