Met Office warns rare freezing rain that’s ‘extremely hazardous’ for planes & brings down trees will hit UK in just DAYS
RARE freezing rain is set to hit the UK in days as the Met Office warns about the "extremely hazardous" weather type.
The dangerous downpours are forecast this weekend with Wales at risk of icy conditions and travel disruption.
Freezing rain doesn't occur very frequently but when it does it can cause chaos, particularly affecting plane journeys and trees.
The Met Office reports: "Turing windier on Friday with patchy rain, mainly towards the west.
"Further outbreaks of rain pushing through over the weekend with the risk of freezing rain.
"Still feeling cold."
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It's possible for a water droplet to fall at below 0C but still in liquid form - this is when they are "supercooled."
When they fall and strike a surface, they freeze on impact, forming a glaze of ice.
Images of freezing rain show incredible scenes of objects perfectly encased.
The Met Office explains: "Freezing rain is a rare type of liquid precipitation that strikes a cold surface, and freezes almost instantly.
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"The conditions needed for freezing rain are quite specific and we don’t see this phenomenon very often in the UK."
While beautiful to look at, freezing rain can have disastrous consequences and can cause a lot of damage.
In the US, where there are more severe cases of freezing rain, they are called "ice storms."
These can create so much icy glaze that the weight can cause infrastructure to start breaking.
The weather set to hit Wales on Valentines weekend thankfully isn't as extreme as this but Brits have been warned to be careful.
The Met Office said: “The weight of the ice can sometimes be heavy enough to bring down trees and power lines, and the glaze of ice on the ground effectively turns roads and pathways into an ice rink.
"The freezing rain can also prove extremely hazardous for aircraft."
Half term is starting on Monday so the airports are expected to be jampacked with tourists, adding to the chaos.
Wales isn't the only region wrapping up warm as the rest of the UK is forecast to feel bitterly cold over the next few days.
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On Sunday, the air in London might feel a bit warmer, at around 5C, but as you go north it will get a lot chillier.
The forecaster predicts it will feel like -6C across County Durham and North Yorkshire on the beginning of next week, with Aberdeenshire feeling like -5C.
What is freezing rain
As per the Met Office
Freezing rain tends to start its life as snow, ice, sleet or hail, but passes through a layer of air that’s above 0 °C on the way down to the ground, melting into a liquid water droplet.
If these droplets then fall through a zone of sub-zero air just above the ground, they become supercooled.
When these supercooled droplets strike surfaces that are close to or below freezing, they freeze on impact forming a glaze of ice.
