UK weather latest: Britain set to be colder than Oslo and Moscow

Parts of the country face a frosty start to next week

Parts of the UK will be hit with temperatures well below freezing later this weekend, before commuters wake up to scrape the frost from their cars early next week.

In rural areas temperatures could fall to between -3C and -5C, the Met Office said, citing clearer skies as the reason.

That would make them colder than Oslo and Moscow. Isolated areas of Scotland could see them fall as low as -8C.

Before the cold snap hits, much of the south of the country will be subjected to rain and clouds. The current mild temperatures will continue, hovering between 12C and 14C, Met Office forecaster Emma Sharples told The Independent.

Further north, free of the rain, people will experience cooler temperatures of around 6C, she added.

Later this weekend wind patterns will shift from westerly to northerly, she said. “That taps into colder air from the north, from more Arctic regions”.

As the rain clears away “that allows that colder air further north to push further southwards”, pushing temperatures down several degrees, Ms Sharples said.

“Quite a brisk breeze” will make it feel colder than the actual temperatures of between 9C and 10C in the south, and 6C in the north and Scotland.

On Sunday night cities like Birmingham could experience temperatures of about 0C.