Brits face a freezing start to the New Year with temperatures plummeting to -9C as up to 20 centimetres of snow could fall.
There is a north-south divide with bitterly cold temperatures in Scotland with yellow snow and ice warnings in place for Saturday, yet in southern England the mercury could rise to the low teens during the day.
At the same time, plenty of rain is set to fall up and down the country over the coming days putting a damper on tonight's New Year's Eve celebrations.
Maps from WXCharts show the temperature dropping to -9C in western Scotland on Saturday night and up to 20 centimetres of snow falling.
BBC forecaster Chris Fawkes said: "As this rain band starts to move into the colder air in Scotland, we might actually start to see it turn to snow, there is quite a bit of uncertainty about this one but we could see some heavy snow not just affecting the hilly areas but maybe also getting down to some lower levels.
"As I say there is a degree of uncertainty in that kind of forecast but stay in touch with the weather if you live in Scotland and you are worried about those snowy conditions heading into New Year’s Day."
He continued: "New Year’s Day itself, it stays quite cold in Scotland, any snow will slowly begin to fizzle in intensity, further south we’ve got the mild air again, still a few showers around but those temperatures, 12C or 13C, that’s still about 5C above the December average."
Forecasters have said the deadly bomb cyclone that sent temperatures plunging in the US over Christmas is causing the unsettled weather in the UK.
On New Year's Eve, a yellow warning for rain is in place for southern Wales and the south west of England that will run until 9pm.
It states: “Heavy rain is expected to bring some surface water flooding and travel disruption.”
In northern and central Scotland there is a yellow warning for snow until 3pm and ice until 11am with people told to expect travel disruption.
There is also a severe flood warning for Whitesands and another 30 regular flood warnings for Scotland while in England there are currently six warnings for floods.
UK 5 day weather forecast
Today:
Mostly cloudy with rain, heavy at times, affecting many areas and risk of patchy hill snow over northern England and southern Scotland later. Colder with further wintry showers across northern Scotland. Mild and windy in the south with coastal gales.
Tonight:
Cold and frosty with icy patches across northern Scotland. Elsewhere, further spells of rain and some hill snow over parts of Scotland. Clear spells developing over England and Wales later.
Sunday:
Early rain and hill snow over Scotland becoming confined to the north later. Otherwise brighter and breezy with sunshine and showers. Chance of more persistent rain in the southeast later.
Outlook for Monday to Wednesday:
Widely settled on Monday although cold, and with shows near northern coasts. Rain arriving from the west through Tuesday, heavy at times on Wednesday. Becoming windy, but mild for most.
