Wintry showers is a somewhat informal meteorological term, used primarily in the United Kingdom, to refer to various mixtures of rain, freezing rain, sleet and snow.
Though no "official" criteria exist for the term, it is never used when any accumulation of snow on the ground takes place. It is often used when the temperature of the ground surface is above 0°C, preventing accumulation from occurring even if the air temperature is marginally below 0°C; but even then the falling precipitation must generally be something other than consisting exclusively of snow.
Professional meteorologists tend to shy away from using the term under any circumstances, but radio and television weather reporters use it regularly, the same way wintry mix is used in the U.S..
