Brits are set to see temperatures start to tumble over the coming days with a -3C low on Sunday before an Arctic blast brings snow next week.
After a generally mild autumn it is starting to feel very wintry with bitterly cold temperatures over the weekend and that is before cold air sweeps in from Greenland and the Arctic which is set to lead to snow showers.
The colder weather is likely to stick around for most of December with snow a possibility on a daily basis over the coming weeks including several inches likely to fall up and down the country, according to maps from WXCharts.
With Christmas less than a month away, the big question is whether there will be snow on December 25 and the jury still appears to be out.
British Weather Services’ Jim Dale says that temperatures will continue to be cold and that heavy snow is ahead.
"It will be the start of scraping the ice off the car," he told the Express. "It will go from fridge to freezer which will be turned up a notch putting us in a very strong position for Christmas.
"That is still some time away – but it does set the scene in the run up. The freezing air from Scandinavia will be a catalyst for snow showers – big snow showers."
Meanwhile for this weekend air will blow in from the east removing much of the fog that has been present recently but also leading to a drop in the mercury to -3C in parts of Scotland.
BBC forecaster Darren Bett said: “This weekend we start to see the breeze picking up, it’s going to be an easterly wind and that will make it feel colder, we will see some sunshine and maybe a few showers as well. We remain in colder air really throughout this weekend.”
He continued: "We start to see things turn a bit colder during the second half of the weekend, that rain in the north west gets blown away by those easterly winds, a few more isobars on the charts so the winds are freshening up."
Mr Bett also said the wind will make it feel even colder stating: "Those temperatures are dropping throughout the weekend so about 5C, 6C, 7C but when you factor in that easterly breeze which will be strongest around North Sea coasts it will feel quite a few degrees colder."
Then next week the wind will start to come in from the north.
“As I say there is colder weather still to come as we head into next week,” said Mr Bett.
“And this is where the weather is going to be coming from by Tuesday onwards, a different area of high pressure dominating, this one is over Greenland and we are going to find a northerly wind coming around that.
"That’s going to drop the temperatures, we’ve got that northerly wind setting in across Scotland, Northern Ireland and northern England and those showers are starting to turn wintry, a sign it really is starting to get a bit colder.
“Arctic wind will dominate with Scotland in the firing line for most of the snow."
Today:
Rain and drizzle persisting across northwest Scotland. Elsewhere mostly dry with variable cloud and sunny intervals, best in the west. Scattered showers affecting eastern areas. Feeling chilly in the northeasterly breeze.
Tonight:
Variable, often large amounts of cloud and scattered showers, most frequent in the east north of Norfolk. Light rain/drizzle in far NW clearing westwards, then good clear spells here. Breezy.
Sunday:
Rather cloudy for many although some sunny intervals, best in the northwest. Further scattered showers especially in eastern areas north of The Wash. Feeling chilly in the northeasterly breeze.
Outlook for Monday to Wednesday:
Often cloudy with a few showers, wintry on hills, Monday. More frequent snow showers, falling to lower levels across the north by Wednesday. Overnight frost, feeling cold in the wind.
