Britain will be colder than Iceland in some parts this weekend as Arctic winds plunge the mercury to -8C.
In a further sign of the big freeze that could last until Christmas, snow showers are forecast on Saturday and Sunday, predominantly across the Scottish hills, according to the Met Office.
Sunday night could be the coldest night of the season so far with -8C possible in sheltered Scottish glens. The coldest so far this autumn was -6C at Braemar.
And while Iceland’s capital, Reykjavik will shiver in -4C today and tomorrow night, it will hit only 0C on Sunday night – making parts of Scotland far colder.
Temperatures are set to peak, in the South, today at 12C (57F) while tonight is expected to be rather damp with rain pushing in across Ireland and southern parts of England and Wales, with lows of 6C – while the Scottish highlands will feel like 0C.
Britain will be colder than Iceland in some parts this weekend as the mercury plunges to -8C. Above, Normanton, West Yorkshire this morning
Temperatures are set to peak, in the South, today at 12C (57F) while tonight is expected to be rather damp with rain pushing in across Ireland and southern parts of England and Wales. Above, Tisbury in Wiltshire today
‘As we move closer to the weekend a low-pressure system will start to pull cooler air from the North West down, bringing a cooler feel,’ said Met Office forecaster Oli Claydon.
‘It’s also responsible for the showery set-up we’re likely to see today. Then, there will be fairly widespread blustery cold showers across parts of the UK with periods of brightness mixed in,’ he added.
Tomorrow will be mostly cloudy morning in the south with patchy rain but turning brighter into the afternoon with some sunny spells, although rain will linger for south-west England.
It will be largely dry and bright elsewhere with good sunny periods but with scattered showers for northern Scotland.
However, Sunday will be chilly with sunshine and blustery showers across northern Scotland and parts of Wales, as well as along the North Sea coast.
Elsewhere, it will be largely dry with long spells of sunshine.
Earlier this week, fleets of gritter lorries were out in many areas of the UK after the coldest night of the autumn so far, as traffic police warned drivers to look out for ice patches with thermometers showing sub-zero readings in many areas.
The possibility of a big freeze has been blamed on the La Niña phenomenon, a weather process which cools the eastern Pacific Ocean, reducing mild easterly winds and allowing bitter northerlies to sweep in.
This was behind the big freeze of November 2010 which saw lows of -13C and snowfalls of 2ft in places during the coldest winter on record for Britain, although forecasters are not expecting such a chilly season at the moment.
According to the Met Office’s forecast for November to January, a ‘full La Nina event’ is likely in the next few months.
It adds: ‘The risk of colder than normal conditions remains a significant possibility.’