Over the past week, the UK has been gripped by a severe cold snap, with temperatures plunging to as low as -6C and overnight frosts causing hazardous conditions nationwide. Sleet and snow showers persisted along the coasts into Thursday, leading to travel disruptions and power outages in the hardest-hit areas.

Up to 25cm of snow is expected to accumulate on the North York Moors and nearby regions, where an amber warning remains in effect until 9pm. However, no snowfall is currently predicted for Liverpool.

It's been a longstanding conversation point regarding why Liverpool's climate remains so temperate - seldom do we experience strong gales, sub-zero temperatures or substantial snowfall.

However, there are several geographical explanations why the area encounters considerably less of the frozen precipitation than neighbouring regions. The ECHO previously consulted the Met Office, who outlined three primary factors behind Liverpool's shortage of snow.

Grahame Madge, a meteorologist, has explained that Liverpool's coastal location, mild temperatures, and the shielding effect of the Welsh hills are responsible for its weather patterns. He said: "The fact that Liverpool is both low-lying and close to the Irish Sea means that temperatures are likely to be warmer than average."

He added: "The bigger point is that when you look at the flow of precipitation, in general, if you've got a flow coming in from the south-westerly direction coming up the Irish Sea, Liverpool will be shielded by the mountains in North Wales and Snowdonia.

"So they will take a lot of the moisture out, and once the clouds have passed over North Wales, then they've actually shed a lot of rainfall/snowfall that they would have been containing."

Mr Madge continued: "When you look at a map of average rainfall amounts, Liverpool and parts of the North West, apart from the higher grounds around Manchester, are relatively dry compared with 70 miles southwest into the mountains of Wales."

Liverpool's low-lying ground near the coast also contributes to warmer temperatures, as generally, the higher the altitude, the colder it becomes. However, Mr Madge pointed out this isn't always the case.

He added: "Things do vary; in a normal winter you've got weather coming in from the Atlantic, and that's driven by the jet stream, which is a fast-flowing ribbon of air high up in the atmosphere, and it steers the systems airway. However, we do get changes to that over winter."

He said: "When you get a north-westerly air coming down the Irish Sea across the Isle of Man and straight into Liverpool, that is a weather pattern that will potentially bring more snow to Liverpool.

"You've got a colder air mass coming in from a northwesterly direction that has quite a long sea track, so it picks up more moisture and would be a more moisture-laden air, and that's when you can expect Liverpool to be more on the frontline of snowfall."

The Met Office states it's a misconception that temperatures must drop below freezing for snow to fall.

Actually, the most substantial snowfall typically happens when air temperatures sit between zero and 2C.

Snow develops when temperatures are chilly and atmospheric moisture exists as minuscule ice crystals.