UK weather forecast: Snow and freezing temperatures expected as cold air from Scandinavia sweeps country

Snow, freezing fog and gale-force winds are expected to hit the UK this week as cold air sweeps in from Iceland and Scandinavia.

The Met Office said night-time temperatures could plunge to as low as -5C in some areas although most of the country will hover around freezing point.

“Many of us will be having to scrape the frost off our cars but it is not going to be bitterly cold,” said meteorologist Craig Snell.

“At the moment the air is coming from the Arctic sea and Iceland but as we go through the week the winds will coming coming from Scandinavia and eastern Europe.”

Snow is most likely as the weekend approaches, when Britain will be at the centre of a “battleground” between the cold air from the east and milder air from the Atlantic.

“We believe the cold air will win out during the working week but as we go into the weekend the wet and windy weather is going to try and push in,” said Mr Snell.

“We will be back into the sort of strong winds and heavy rain we saw last week and we could see some snow, particularly in the north on higher ground.”

Parts of the UK could see severe gales of around 50mph, he added.

The general forecast for the week ahead suggests Monday night will see frost, mist and fog patches, with dryer weather on Tuesday except for western area, which could see rain and strong winds later in the evening.

Wintry showers are forecast for parts of the country between Wednesday and Friday although conditions are most likely to remain dry, bright and cold.

The week before Christmas is expected to be wet and windy with the possibility of snow where the colder air meets wet weather, particularly over the hills in the north.

Snow is most likely on high ground in the north but overall temperatures are likely to be around average for the time of the year.

The UK’s coldest winter on record was in 1962/3 when temperatures regularly sank to -20C and the UK was hit by a blizzard which left snowdrifts up to six metres deep.

Braemar in the Scottish Highlands holds the record for the coldest temperature ever recorded in Britain, at -27.2C on 10 January 1982.