UK braces for snow as cold weather takes a grip

Parts of the UK are bracing for snow and wintry showers this week as the cold spell continues.

Temperatures dropped below freezing for much of the country over the weekend, with lows of -8C (17.6F) forecast for Tuesday.

The coldest recorded temperature so far this autumn was -7.7C in Shap, Cumbria, on Saturday morning.

BBC Weather says snowfalls are possible but there is "a lot more uncertainty than normal" in forecasts.

Tuesday night will bring frost to much of the country, with temperatures of around -2C to -5C, and possibly as low as -8C, across parts of the north of England and rural Scotland, the Met Office said.

Higher ground in Scotland and northern England saw snowfall last week, which is typical for late November.

Met Office spokesman Oli Claydon said snow showers are expected on the North Sea coast, including Scotland and the north east of England, from Wednesday.

He added that "we are not likely to see significant accumulation on the ground".

Snow may also fall in parts of south-eastern England, including Hampshire.

The cloudy and damp start to the week will give way to sunnier spells, before turning unsettled later in the week, forecasters say.

Lead BBC Weather presenter and meteorologist Simon King said: "It's going to be a cold week with temperatures only around 2 to 7 degrees Celsius - which is below the average for the time of year."

He added: "With a cold north easterly wind, snow showers will come into northern and eastern areas of the UK and while this will mostly be over high ground, there's a chance that there could be snow to low levels for a time.

"There's also a small possibility of getting some sleet or snow to southern areas of the UK later in the week too.

"Forecasting snow in the UK, in December is actually really tricky. Being an island, it's typically not quite cold enough and we still have a battle between milder tropical air and colder Arctic air.

"While we still have the battle of the air masses, how much rain that turns into sleet or snow is always a difficult forecast to make."

Parts of central Scotland woke up to frost on Monday following cold overnight temperatures falling to -6.4C in the village of Tyndrum, according to the Met Office.

It stayed above freezing for the rest of the country as bands of cloud and rain moved in.

Showers and hill snow could still affect parts of Scotland and north-east England, where it will also be windy.

The low temperatures will persist through Tuesday and Wednesday, with sunny spells forecast.

An area of low pressure moving in from the South West on Thursday could meet colder air, with showers expected across southern England and Wales, turning to snow over higher ground.

The temperature peaked in double figures in southern England and Wales on Monday before dropping again into Tuesday.

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