The icy conditions that have had Brits pulling out the winter woollies again this week will soon make way for “above average” temperatures throughout April.
Parts of the country woke up to snow on Thursday, with cautious forecasts of a small amount of flakes surpassed for those in the east of the country where several inches had settled.
The frosty turn, which is being powered by a blast of air from the Arctic, comes a week after the start of Spring and a run of unusually warm temperatures, blue sky and sunshine.
While temperatures may not quite be getting back to the 20C that graced parts of the UK just days ago, forecasters say temperatures will be back in the double digits soon enough.
Speaking to The Mirror, Met Office Meteorologist Annie Shuttleworth said the warm temperatures over recent days were something of a “false start” to the new season.
“The temperatures we saw last week were well above the average temperature for late March across the UK,” she said.
“So it may have felt like summer for some but in fact it is still early spring when the average temperature is around 11 or 12 C in the UK.”
Cold arctic air has brought colder temperatures, which would stick around over the weekend, Ms Shuttleworth said.
Temperatures overnight on Thursday were due to settle just a few degrees above zero for most areas, with 2C (35.6F) predicted for London and Edinburgh.
Devon and Cornwall are set to see the warmest temperature of 6C, with the coolest of 1C forecast for Aberdeenshire and North Yorkshire.
This follows last week's sunshine when the mercury hit 20C in some places.
Weekend temperatures are predicted to remain in the single figures too.
The mercury is forecast to reach highs of 7C and 8C across the UK on Friday and Saturday, increasing to 9C and 10C on Sunday.
Sunny spells with some cloud are predicted for the rest of England, Scotland and Wales, with a largely cloudy day all round on Sunday.
Meteorologist Matty Box said there is a "cold air mass" over the UK.
"There is an ice warning out at the moment," he said. "If there's any melting and refreezing overnight then there's an ice risk.
"I suspect there will be a similar risk for Thursday night to Friday morning."
Discussing Friday's weather, he added: "It will be concentrated and there will be snow showers.
"It will be eastern and northern areas of the UK that are more likely to see any showers of rain, sleet or snow."
The weather will then improve over the weekend, with some sunny spells.
"Showers will become less frequent, but still with the chance of some wintry showers in the east coast and the North Sea coast in particular through Saturday," Mr Box said.
"There should be a fair amount of sunshine as well."
In Canterbury, Kent, snow saw a county cricket warm-up match between Lancashire and Kent suspended and then cancelled on Thursday.
A wind change to more of a westerly direction next week would bring temperatures back to double figures for many - though many would see a healthy dousing of rain as well.
And Ms Shuttleworth said it looks as though we will see temperatures at or above average throughout the month of April.
However, Spring was often a changeable month temperature wise, Ms Shuttleworth noted, “as our seas are still cold after the winter but the sun is getting stronger and the days longer”.
“The temperatures can vary a lot depending on the wind direction,” she said.
