Met Office delivers snow verdict following reports of 'Arctic blast'

The Met Office has delivered its latest verdict on whether the UK can expect any snow in the coming days.

Following reports that an 'Arctic blast' will be arriving in the UK in a matter of days, bringing plummeting temperatures with it, the weather agency has confirmed the outlook in its latest forecast.

The Met Office poured cold water on claims that several centimetres of snow will fall in some parts of the UK from Monday, November 18. Forecasters confirmed to the Manchester Evening News that there is "no snow" in the current forecast, adding that snow cannot be accurately predicted in the UK "more than a few days ahead".

READ MORE: Met Office latest on when sunshine could FINALLY return to Greater Manchester

It comes as temperatures have remained mild in recent days with some areas of Scotland even seeing highs of around 19C thanks to the Foehn effect, which sees wet, cool air on one side of a mountain turn to drier, warmer air on the other side.

While the majority of the UK has remained dry and mild in recent days, there has been a lot of cloud cover with few places seeing much sunshine during the start of November. That could be set to change with the Met Office predicting some brighter conditions for the start of next week.

Met Office spokesperson Stephen Dixon said: "Recent cloudy conditions will begin to break up on Monday, bringing a day of some much-needed sunshine for many after a gloomy start to November. There’s a chance of some pockets of mist and frost early on Monday for some, but clearer skies and sunny spells is the initial outlook for the start of next week.

"From mid-week, the most likely scenario is for some more cloud building back in for much of the UK, with some wet conditions possible in the north of the UK."

Looking further ahead, the UK could see the return of some cooler spells. Mr Dixon added: "The long range outlook suggests further unsettled weather is possible in the second half of the month, with this being more likely in north-western areas. Temperatures are likely to be around average, though this doesn’t rule out cooler spells at times."

According to the Met Office, the UK saw mostly "fairly typical" weather during October. Statistics show that rainfall and sunshine were just below the average, while temperatures were just above the long term 30-year average during last month, the agency said.