UK weather forecast: Met Office issues snow warning as temperatures set to plummet

Met Office forecasts up to 15cm of snow in parts of the Highlands of Scotland

Temperatures are expected to fall below freezing again tonight with heavy hail and snow in parts of the country as the wintry start to spring continues.

The cold weather is predicted to last until the weekend as the Met Office issued a yellow weather warning for parts of northern England and southern Scotland.

The forecast follows hill snow and sleet which was seen around those parts of the country this morning.

Met Office meteorologist Alex Burkill said: "There won't be any major change tonight so it's going to be a cold one again with possible temperatures of minus 2C and minus 3C."

Last night saw temperatures of around minus 3C in parts of the country with the coldest weather seen in Topcliffe, North Yorkshire, where temperatures dropped to nearly minus 4C.

Up to 5cm of snow could accumulate in areas above 200m and up to 15cm is possible in the Scottish Highlands, the Met Office said.

Temperatures are expected to remain in the single figures during the day, around 5C or 6C as a maximum for many, with 10C expected in the south-east.

Forecasters said a deep area of low pressure was centred over the UK, bringing with it the potential to drive showers and produce long spells of wet and changeable weather.

Met Office meteorologist Mark Wilson said: "In the north of the UK there will be more persistent rain and hill snow today, particularly on higher ground in southern Scotland and northern England.

"There is a weather warning in force in those areas for until 10 o'clock. There could be some snow to lower levels, but essentially it's a high-ground feature and it could cause some localised disruption over high routes."

Parts of Cumbria, Northumberland and Durham were affected by the warning, as were parts of Dumfries and Galloway, East and West Lothian, East Ayrshire and South Lanarkshire across the Scottish border.

The band of rain and hill snow will move eastwards through Wednesday, while Scotland and Northern Ireland are expected to see strong winds with coastal gales.

Elsewhere, there will be sunshine and some rain in southern and western parts of the country, but heavy showers with hail and thunder are also forecast.

Similar conditions are expected on Thursday, although most of the showers will move to the south-west of the UK.

Mr Burkill added that the cold weather was not entirely unexpected for this time of year.

"It's cold for sure, but it's not perhaps as uncommon as you might think," he said.

"Snow is actually more likely to fall in April than in November."

Agencies contributed to this report