UK weather: Scotland and Northern England to get first touch of snow this weekend as temperatures fall

Met Office warns the UK will see a 'big change' in the weather as it turns much colder from the weekend

Scotland and northern England is due to see the first snow of the year this weekend (Getty Images)

Scotland and the north of England could see some sleet and snow this weekend - as the Met Office predicted a "big change" in the weather.

The forecaster predicts snow and sleet for the northern half of the country "even down to the low levels", with the rest of the country almost certainly due to experience frost as winter starts to take hold.

A spokesman for the Met Office, Chris Bulmer, told The Independent: "Its going to turn much colder from the weekend. Increasingly there is going to be showers around and in the north there is going to be snow down even to low levels."

He said it was "a little bit less clear-cut" in the south, which is more likely to experience a "wintry mix" of snow in the hills, frost and showers.

"Its certainly going to turn a lot colder by the weekend and there is certainly going to be some frost and ice. There is going to be a big change from what we’ve had recently", he added.

It comes as the south of England is due to be hit by Storm Barney on Tuesday evening - with gusts of up to 70mph predicted.

The Environment Agency and the Royal Society for the Prevention of Accidents (RoSPA) sent out a statement warning people not to take "risky" selfies during the storm.