Snow to hit UK as weather suddenly turns freezing - new maps reveal where to expect it

Snowy scenes are coming to parts of the UK soon as a marked drop in temperatures ends the current phase of mild autumn weather - here's where flakes are likely to fall

Snow is forecast to fall soon as the UK prepares for a sudden turn towards chilly weather.

Many parts of the country have been enjoying milder conditions in recent days, with the mercury forecast to reach 17C again in London on Tuesday and 14C in the far north. But new weather maps from WXCharts show snow falling across one part of the country after a marked temperature drop, signalling an end to the current period of warmer than average conditions.

Wintry showers are expected to cover a large part of the Highlands on Saturday 2 November, while overnight temperatures will drop below freezing across large swathes of the UK and hover around the low single digits in the south.

It comes after another weather map showed a -5C blast just days away from arriving in Britain. Maps from WX Charts suggested wintry scenes will be coming very soon, with some areas facing up to an 80% chance of snowfall. Scotland is expected to bear the brunt on Monday, November 4, with the Highlands and Scottish borders most likely to see flakes fall. The northern Pennines in England could also get a dusting.

James Madden from Exacta Weather said things are likely to start feeling a lot cooler this week before "wintry weather " sweeps across northern areas at the end of the week. He wrote: "An additional area of low pressure and rather unsettled feature then looks to interfere with this regime from in and around Thursday or Friday, and this could bring more in the way of some heavy showers and potentially gusty to strong winds, particularly across parts of Scotland and Ireland and in western parts of the UK once again to begin with. Additionally, this will also pave the way for some much cooler to even colder conditions for the time of the year from the north as we head into next weekend, and this should also happen to coincide with some further stormy conditions in this period to bring some wintry weather across the far north and Scotland at the very least during next weekend and early next week (around October 27/28)."

The Met Office, the UK's national weather forecasting agency, is not predicting any snow in its latest long-range forecasts - but they do expect a much more "brisk" feel compared to recent days, as well as frost and fog. Their long-range forecast for October 26 to November 4 reads: "Temperatures likely closer to average than of late with an often brisk westerly flow bringing systems in from the Atlantic. Some longer spells of rain may spread erratically southeastwards across parts of the UK at the start of the weekend, especially in the north and perhaps accompanied by windy conditions, but with a trend for high pressure to build close to the UK later in the weekend and beyond into early November. This should offer some longer drier spells of weather, with an increased chance of frost and fog, which could be slow to clear in places. However, it may remain rather breezy or windy at times in the northwest, with some occasional outbreaks of rain here."