VIDEO: Winter set to finally bite in East Lancashire this week (From Chorley Citizen)

VIDEO: Winter set to finally bite in East Lancashire this week

1:11pm Thursday 10th January 2013 in East Lancashire By Lisa Woodhouse, Assistant picture editor

THIS week’s milder temperatures are set to drop as winter bites in East Lancashire.

The weather is set to take a turn for the worse dropping from double figures to around four degrees during the day.

And nature lovers are warning that wildlife and plants, some of whom have been tricked by the recent Spring-like temperatures, could be badly affected.

A Met Office spokeswoman said we are going to see a return to normal temperatures expected at this time of year.

She said: “So far we have had a very mild winter and the temperatures have reached double figures.

“From today onwards we are going to see temperatures drop from around 10 to around four degrees which we would expect to see in January.

“Temperatures will drop to around two degrees overnight with much of the same over the weekend.

“Sunday will be dry and bright but as we move into next week it looks like the colder conditions will continue.

“There is a bit of uncertainty about how long the colder temperatures will carry on.

“Next week temperatures are expected to remain cold but there will be wintery showers and milder spells.”

However Huncoat weatherman Roy Cheetham said he was not expecting the “Arctic freeze” reported by some.

He said: “The weather has been mild but we have had a succession of mild winters since the late 1980s.

“It seems unlikely that there will be an Arctic freeze.

“There are a lot of reports that the British weather is getting more extreme.

“This is the case in some parts of the country with respect to floods but in East Lancashire it doesn’t seem to have become more extreme.” Alan Wright, from the Lancashire Wildlife Trust, said: “The weather is playing tricks on our wildlife.

“Nature tends to fight back, but the cold snap could kill off small birds like kingfishers, which have seen a drop in numbers in recent years.

“There have been a number of sightings of Kingfishers at Brockholes Nature Reserve in Preston and Foxhill Bank in Oswaldtwistle and these small birds are particularly affected by the cold weather.

“Flowers like snowdrops are also appearing two or three weeks early because of the milder weather.

“We are seeing quite a few buds on trees and brambles, which we would not usually see until the end of February.”