UK snow maps show areas battered in March as 14 counties hit - see full list

New weather maps have shown Brits will be battered by an icy spell this month with 14 counties feeling the brunt of the chill.

Weather maps by WXCharts, which use Metdesk data, forecast for March 9 shows snowfall blanketing the southwest near Oxfordshire with more of the white stuff hitting other parts of the country. Snowfall is forecast to be heaviest in central and northern parts of the UK.

Edinburgh, Inverness, Aberdeen and Newcastle will be hit by the most intense wintry conditions, according to the forecast. But even Manchester, Birmingham and Belfast will see some dusting.

Temperatures are forecast to drop to as low as March 9 with Netweather claiming it could fall to as low as -3C and -2C in some areas. Some of the worst affected areas in England include: Cheshire, Cumbria, Derbyshire, Gloucestershire, Greater Manchester, Herefordshire, Lancashire, Leicestershire, Merseyside, Staffordshire, Warwickshire, Oxfordshire, Northamptonshire

"A split in weather conditions is likely across the UK at first during early March," the Met Office's long range forecast said. "Northwestern areas will see some rain and stronger winds at times, as Atlantic weather systems arrive from the west. These spells of wet and windy weather will drift southeast to some degree, but will weaken.

"High pressure is likely to have more influence across the south of the UK, at least at first. However, through this period there is an increasing chance of unsettled conditions becoming more widely dominant across the UK with more in the way of rain at times for all areas, even in the south.

"Although, there will still be some drier interludes between these periods of unsettled conditions. The middle of March is most-likely going to be quite changeable and unsettled with spells of rain and strong winds in most areas, especially the north and west, with rainfall amounts probably above average.

"Some drier interludes are also likely between time though, especially in the south and east, and temperatures on the whole will be a little above average. Later in the month, there are signs that high pressure to the south could start to dominate once again, with extended dry and bright conditions perhaps developing more widely."