'Four inches of snow on the way to the Lakes on Friday', Met Office tells Gazette (From The Westmorland Gazette)

'Four inches of snow on the way to the Lakes on Friday', Met Office tells Gazette

3:23pm Wednesday 20th March 2013 in News By Ellis Butcher, Reporter

SNOW is on the way to the South Lakes and many parts of Cumbria this weekend, the Met Office has told The Westmorland Gazette.

Its forecasts suggest snow will start falling locally on Friday from late morning onwards and possibly continue into the evening commute.

Snow is expected to continue into Saturday or throughout the day.

The Met Office said snow is likely to be heavy across the fells and higher ground with enough falling to cause an impact at lower levels for towns and villages in the South Lakes.

The forecast is suggesting 'persistent snow falling over a 24-hour to 36-hour period.'

It is anticipated any snow would stay around on Sunday rather than thawing quickly like recently, because the forecast is for a dry day with temperatures expected to be no warmer than a chilly 4C.

Charlie Powell, of the Met Office, said there will 'be 10cm-plus' (nearly four inches) of snow, falling over the area Friday into Saturday, which could result in 'blizzard conditions'.

He said  Lake District fells, parts of Cumbria and the Pennines are all likely to see fresh falls.

It is understood that the large weather band starts its journey tomorrow in Ireland and South Wales.

It will fall as rain initially, but then as it moves North East during Thursday and Friday, it will meet colder air and start falling as snow.

The broader Met Office forecasts suggests the potential for as much as 20 to 30 cm (7.9 inches or 11.8 inches) of snow across 'parts of north Wales, northern England and south-west Scotland' during Friday and Saturday.

The spokesman said that although March had been very wintry so far, it was not unusual for snowfall. He added snow is stastistically more likely at Easter than Christmas.