HAVING just experienced Somerset's coldest January for 11 years, get ready for a big freeze - with snow possible next week.

Paul Silvers, who combines his two passions of photography and the weather said January 2021 had been the coldest in the Taunton Deane area since 2010, with an average temperature of just below 5degsC.

"It has also been the coldest calendar month since March 2013, when a similar ‘Sudden Stratospheric warming’ (SSW) event as we are currently experiencing in Somerset brought chilly weather to the county," said Paul.

"The month has seen slightly below normal amounts of sunshine at about 95 per cent of the long term average and 183mm of rain, a little above the average for Somerset in January.

"Conditions are set to be drier than normal for the first half of February, with SSW causing the Jet Stream to be pushed further south than normal from this weekend bringing cold air in from the east, the coldest source origin for us here in Britain.

"The freeze expected to arrive in Somerset this weekend could establish itself for a considerable length of time.

"There is a chance of snow for Somerset into next week. However the computer forecast modelling remains uncertain at this stage."