The UK is set for an up and down week of weather, forecasters say, with temperatures on Saturday night into Sunday morning set to plummet to as low as minus 6c. The Met Office said the next week would see the "peak and troughs" of spring.
Gardeners have been warned to keep an eye on their blooms as sub-zero temperatures on expected on Saturday night could disrupt flowering. Met Office meteorologist Simon Partridge said lows of minus 6C were likely in northern regions on Saturday night, before a slightly milder turn on Sunday.
"Tonight will be cold, with widespread frost across the UK. We could well see a number of spots between minus 4C and minus 6C," he said. "Typically everything started flowering and all the gardeners do need to keep an eye for the frost tonight because that will cause issues for some, I'm sure."
A yellow weather warning put in place by national forecasters for Saturday was lifted, with conditions milder than on Friday. Some showers are due on eastern coasts across the weekend but temperatures will generally feel less cold because of lighter winds across the country, he said.
Sunshine and dry weather could warm up most parts of the UK on Sunday, but rain is likely to edge in over Northern Ireland and Scotland. "A wetter and windier day round there and we could see some strong, possibly gale-force winds around Scotland," Mr Partridge said.
More unsettled weather is set to hit most of Britain from Monday to Wednesday, with widespread rain and wind expected. "That's the difficulty with spring and its peaks and troughs," Mr Partridge said.
The icy weather this month comes after the UK experienced its sunniest March since 1929. Northern Ireland basked in 90 per cent more sunshine than average for the month, with a total of 192.5 hours of sun.
Scotland saw 64 per cent more sun than usual, with a total of 160.1 hours, while England enjoyed its sunniest March at 168.1 hours. Wales had its fifth brightest with 157.9 hours.
