Spring off to a frosty start with snow falling across parts of Wales

The first weekend of spring has seen snow falling across parts of Wales and the southwest of England, with the Met Office issuing weather warnings.

Yellow warnings were in place from 6am until 10am on Saturday morning for Gloucester, Worcester and parts of Wiltshire, and a Met Office forecaster said this was in part to flag to the emergency services and the public that snow was predicted where major transport routes, the M4 and M5, meet.

Met Office forecaster Simon Partridge said “we had a little more snow than expected” after it arrived in the coldest part of the night and low pressure gave it “more energy” than computer models predicted.

He added: “It’s not unusual for this time of the year, we often do get some snow in March – it’s the old adage that it is more likely to snow in Easter than it is in Christmas, and there is a bit of truth to that.”

Snow is still moving snow across the high hills of Wales but overall the week will be drier, he said.

People shared images of their pets enjoying the Spring snow to X, formerly Twitter.

In Monmouthshire, south-east Wales, a dog owner posted photographs of his Irish terrier, Cleo, experiencing snow for the first time in her life.

Charles Crundwell told PA news agency: “Went to bed last night with not a hint that it might snow, so was surprised and delighted when I opened the curtains.

“My previous Irish Terrier loved snow so was keen to get my new one out to experience it, it took her a few seconds and then she was off full-on joy into this new white paradise, put a smile on my face”.

Welcome to a beautiful snowy morning in Tintern ❄️♥️🏴󠁧󠁢󠁷󠁬󠁳󠁿 #Wales #wyevalley #spring #snow pic.twitter.com/XkTxLx7CO1

— Amanda Holland (@AmandaHollanda4) March 2, 2024

Footage was also shared of snow falling this morning in Tintern, Monmouthshire.

Amanda Holland posted a video and a photo of snow-covered trees with the caption “Welcome to a snowy morning in Tintern”.

On Friday, it was announced that February was one of the wettest on record and Mr Partridge said the morning’s snowfall shows “the unsettled weather is continuing”.

He added some people saw heavy rain instead of flurries.