A danger to life warning has been issued with ferocious gales hours away before parts of the UK braces for a 'snow bomb' similar to the Beast from the East.
Potentially catastrophic winds of "perhaps 70 to 80 mph" are about to hit across coastal areas of Scotland, the Met Office say.
Interactive weather charts meanwhile show Scotland and northwest England have been highlighted as having a sporadic snow shower overnight.
It will predominantly cover the Highlands but some urban areas may be set for a dusting before the -10 chill bites.
The yellow warning for wind came into force at 8am this morning and will remain in place until 9am on Wednesday.
It shows a small chance of injuries, damage to buildings and potential hazards due to tiles being blown off of roofs.
The Met Office warn that longer journey times are to be expected on all modes of transport, and some roads and bridges may need to close for safety purposes.
It comes as maps from WXCharts have now suggested there could be a likelihood of snow falling across the UK in the coming days.
They show a 50 to 70 percent chance of the white stuff hitting northern parts of England on Tuesday and Wednesday, as well as a 80 to 95 percent chance of falling in Scotland.
The likelihood of snow in southern parts is considerably lower, however, with areas seeing around a 20 percent chance.
Among the disruption over the next 24 hours, some homes may be without power due to sudden outages, and mobile phones may lose signal.
"There is a small chance that injuries and danger to life could occur from large waves and beach material being thrown onto sea fronts, coastal roads and properties," the Met Office warning added.
The forecaster says: "A deep area of low pressure is expected to pass to the north of Scotland later on Tuesday, clearing away to the east during Wednesday.
"Whilst at this stage there is still some uncertainty regarding the onset of strongest winds and to what extent more populated areas of the Central Belt are also affected, this will bring a swathe of very strong winds to parts of Scotland.
"Gusts of 60 mph can be expected fairly widely, but there is potential for gusts as high as 80mph, this most likely over the north of mainland Scotland, Lewis and Orkney."
There had been indictions that the UK's weather would begin to calm down as February began.
But the Met Office's long range forecast indicates a mixed weather outlook for the first half of next month.
It says: "On Friday, cloud with patchy rain and drizzle are expected in the far north. However, dry, bright, and breezy conditions with sunny spells are likely for most. For the rest of the period, unsettled weather conditions are expected in the north whilst settled conditions are more likely in the south.
"As a result, showers and longer spells of rain with strong winds are likely in the north and particularly in northwestern parts of the UK.
Then, continuing up until February 27, an unsettled pattern begins to develop.
It says: "While uncertain, a continuation of the regional divide between the north and south is expected as the broad theme for this period.
"Unsettled conditions are more likely to dominate in the north while the south remains settled and drier. A spell of more widely spread wet and windy weather is likely to persist for several days across all areas, although wettest conditions will focus in the west.
"Temperatures are most likely to remain around average or above."
