UK weather: Autumn's coldest temperatures so far expected over the weekend

Temperatures could drop to zero in the north of the UK

The UK could feel the chill this weekend. A meadow in London was covered in frost earlier this month (Rex Features)

The UK is set to be hit with the coldest weather of the autumn season so far this weekend.

Temperatures are expected to drop to zero and some parts of the country could wake up to a layer of frost on Sunday and Monday morning.

Although Thursday is expected to be a drier and brighter day for much of the UK - despite some weather warnings for wind in the very north of Scotland - Met Office meteorologist Emma Sharples said the weather would begin to turn on Friday.

Atlantic fronts will be pushing cloud and rain from the northwest across the UK as the day goes on.

“That band of rain then has to move south-eastwards across the country on Saturday and behind that we’ve got colder air coming in," said Ms Sharples.

“So there is going to be much colder air than we’ve seen recently and in fact for much of autumn so far. It’s going to be quite showery but some of the showers across the higher ground in the north could turn to snow - but only above 600m.

“With that cold air setting in, there’s the potential for there to be a little bit of frost overnight on Saturday night and maybe Sunday into Monday." Ms Sharples said there was nothing to be concerned about though."

The Met Office said this type of weather was not uncharacteristic for the time of year.

The majority of the UK will face temperatures in the low single figures on Saturday night.

Temperatures are expected to drop to around zero in some parts of the north on Sunday night. But the east of Scotland could bear the brunt of the chill with temperatures possibly hitting zero and below overnight.