The UK is bracing itself for freezing fog and severe gales to hit the country before heavy snow could land on Sunday night.
Experts at the Met Office have issued a yellow weather warning for fierce gales to batter Britain in the coming days., The Mirror reports. The alert covers most of Scotland, some parts of northern England as well as areas in Northern Ireland.
Heading into the weekend, Saturday is expected to be mild ahead of a new Arctic plunge on Sunday that will see heavy snow in parts with temperatures over the next week that could fall as low as -5C.
READ: UK weather forecast: Exact date Arctic Blast will bring snowfall
Maps from WXCharts chart chilly conditions on Sunday with rain turning to snow and possibly up to 20cm (7 inches) settling in Scotland.
The snow is expected to continue throughout next week and by the following weekend, maps show it spreading, with several centimetres falling in north west England and Wales.
Temperatures will be as low as -5C in Scotland and -4C in north west England.
Met Office forecaster Clare Nasir said: “Some mist and fog, low cloud in the south and some frost, at the same time.
"These isobars gathering towards the north west through Friday meaning some stronger winds, more cloud and also some outbreak of rain.”
She added: “Watch out for mist and fog in the south, some low cloud and temperatures falling close to freezing if not below so a fairly widespread frost here, pockets of frost further north east across England, even eastern parts of Scotland during the first part of the night.”
Looking at this weekend, it is set to be very windy with the possibility of "severe gales" in Scotland on Saturday with temperatures falling on Sunday.
Ms Nasir said: "Very windy in the north with gales as this weather front sinks down towards the south and then again a ridge of high pressure exerts its influence from the south west so a fairly widespread frost into Sunday morning before this system skirts up to the north and again and a risk of gales, even severe gales for a time and also some quite heavy rain."
The weather warning for wind is in place over the next three days, with the alert going down as far as Norwich, east Anglia.
Wind could get up to 7Omph in some areas - and the challenging conditions are expected to last for three days, forecasters say.
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Take a look at the weather forecast across the UK for the next few days:
Today
It was a chilly start for England and Wales today with some fog patches, mainly in the south, slowly clearing. It will become cloudier in west with some drizzle and then in Scotland and Northern Ireland, with rain and gales in far north. It will grow milder later on.
Tonight
Rain and drizzle is expected in west, while heavy and persistent in the far northwest. Some clear spells in the east. It will be mild and increasingly windy, particularly over Scotland where gales, locally severe, expected.
Saturday
Very windy over Scotland with gales, locally severe, easing from the northwest. Rain clearing to showers and becoming colder. Generally windy elsewhere but some mostly dry.
Outlook for Sunday to Tuesday
Remaining changeable with spells of rain and showers, including snowfall over higher ground in the north and further strong winds. There will be temperatures, mildest in the southwest and coldest in the northeast.
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