A blast of cold Arctic air is sweeping over the UK this week, sending temperatures tumbling.
After a week where most days topped out at around 20C, the daytime temperature in London reached no higher than 15C on Wednesday, according to the Met Office.
Temperatures at night are likely to fall to as low as 5C at the end of the week. The Met Office recorded a low of 6C in London on Wednesday night.
Overnight temperatures will tumble through the rest of the week and Friday is likely to be the coldest morning, the Met Office predicts.
Cold Arctic air is arriving over the next few days leading to below average temperatures and a chance of snow on the highest peaks in Scotland.
Met Office spokesman Johnathan Vautrey said temperatures for most of the week will be 4-6C below average.
"Many of us will see temperatures in the mid-teens - around 13-14C - whereas normally at this time of year it would be at least 16-18C, if not closer towards 19-20C in the far south east, places like London," Mr Vautrey said.
But temperatures will feel even colder and "more like single figures" for a lot of places due to strong winds.
Turning colder this week as arctic air sweeps across the UK 📉 pic.twitter.com/ilQbvNQGsu
— Met Office (@metoffice) September 9, 2024
The forecaster said Thursday into Friday is likely to be the coldest night of the week, as temperatures in rural areas could drop below freezing.
"We could see some patchy frost developing in rural areas across all nations of the UK, particularly Scotland," Mr Vautrey said.
"For people waking up on Friday morning it could be quite a shock to the system as they're walking out of the door.
"There is a small chance of some snow falling over the highest mountains of Scotland, but you'll have to hike quite a way before you see any snow."
The Met Office said the cold spell is not expected to last too long and temperatures will start to climb back up towards average by the weekend.
A largely sunny London is expected to see highs of 19C on Saturday and 22C on Sunday with the temperature set to climb to 22C next week.
The agency had given a yellow weather warning for vast parts of the country over the weekend and many Londoners were woken up to thunderstorms into Sunday morning.
The weather was bad enough to see dozens of British Airways flights cancelled at Gatwick.
