UK weather latest: Temperatures to plummet this weekend as mild spell ends

Gale force winds and snow expected as chill sweeps across country

Snow in Newtonmore, Scotland, in January 2017 (Jeff J Mitchwell/getty)

Winter is coming to the UK this weekend as the country braces itself for plummeting temperatures.

Temperatures will fall over the weekend before dropping below zero on Sunday night and into Monday as the UK faces its first widespread frost of the winter season.

Scotland and the north of England face the worst of the weather, with snow set to fall in some parts of the country – most likely on Sunday night or Monday.

It will be a significant change from conditions earlier this month, when temperatures rose as high as 23.5 degrees Celsius in Kent.

Charles Powell, a Met Office meteorologist, told The Independent: “On Saturday we pick up a very strong north-westerly wind. Added to that we've got a bit of rain up the west side of the UK, especially the north-west, and more cloud around.

“We'll have less sunshine, strong winds, cloud and rain.

“On Sunday the wind will change from north-westerly to northerly - an even colder direction. That will mostly affect eastern areas of the UK.

"With that wind staying at gale force, we'll see an even colder feel and some temperatures dropping to between 8 and 10C. With the strong northerly wind it will feel more like 5 or 6C."

"Sunday night will be really cold because the winds drop out completely. That's when we could wake up to temperatures as low as -4C in some parts of the UK - most likely across the northern half of the country.

“Central London might get down as low as 3C. We could see some snow in parts in Scotland.

“The change could catch some people off guard because the last week has been so mild. But by Monday we'll have more sun and it will be back up to daytime temperatures of 15 or 16C."