UK weather: Snow flurries and frost expected as cold snap continues

Snow flurries and frost are expected as the cold snap is forecast to last into next week, according to the Met Office. The cold conditions that brought the coldest night of the winter so far are set to remain for the coming days also bring showers and sleet.

Meteorological office said later this week the country would also see sub-zero nights and widespread frosts with temperatures dropping to -3C.

On Thursday night the mercury plunged to -10.7C (12.7F) at Aboyne in Aberdeenshire, beating the previous coldest mark of -10.5C (13.1F) recorded on January 3 in Braemar.

Friday night was milder, with the coldest temperature recorded as -9.5C (14.9F) in northern Scotland.

Yet Emma Smith, a Met Office meteorologist, said Sunday would see a cold front returning and bringing temperatures of -0C as well as snow in the North and sleet in the East of the country.

She said: “In the early hours of Sunday morning we will get a cold front coming in from the far north west that’s moving into western Scotland and Northern Ireland. It is meeting colder air so we could get wintery flurries for a time as that approaches.”

Later in the day the cold front could bring snow to the Tyne and Tees region but is expected turn into showers for other parts of the country as it moves south.

London and the South East are forecast to avoid the much of the wet weather on Sunday with brighter conditions and highs of 9C (42.8F).

However, as the week continues the cold snap is set to bring freezing nights with lows of -3 in parts of the country.

Ms Smith said: “Overnight Sunday into Monday it will be another cold start to the day with patchy frost, so people going back to work will need to get those car scrapers back out.

“A cold front into Tuesday will move across the country and could see some wintry flurries in Yorkshire as it comes across, but that will then clear into wintry showers.”

Despite the cold nights, the Met Office said that during the days next week temperatures will warm up to where they are expected to be for this time of years, with lows of 3C in North and highs of 8C in the south.