UK weather: Britain braces for snow and rain in ‘rollercoaster’ week as temperatures plunge

'It's going to be a bit of a rollercoaster next week with a spell of unsettled weather on the way’

People navigate a flooded street in Bosham, West Sussex on Sunday (PA)

Forecasters are warning Britons they will face rain, snow and freezing temperatures in a "rollercoaster" weather cycle in the coming week.

The Met Office has said there will be a significant temperature drop overnight from Wednesday to Thursday, with readings plunging by as much as 7C (12.6F) across all areas of the UK.

Weather warnings are also in place as "heavy and prolonged rain" is expected to bring flooding to parts of north-western Scotland on Tuesday.

The Environment Agency had 32 flood warnings in place in England on Sunday afternoon, stretching from the south-west coast in Cornwall to the north-west in Carlisle.

The Met Office have issued yellow warnings for wind across the most southerly parts of England until 8pm on Sunday. Yellow warnings for rain have also been raised for Northern Ireland.  

A spell of snow could also be seen in mountainous regions in the north-west of England and Scotland.

The week will begin mild for many in southern parts of England and Wales, with the temperature rising to an unseasonable high of 17C (62.6F) on Tuesday and Wednesday due to an "ex-tropical storm" impacting the Mediterranean.

Tom Morgan, a meteorologist at the Met Office, said "It's going to be a bit of a rollercoaster next week with a spell of unsettled weather on the way.

"It will be fairly mild on Monday to Wednesday, especially in the southern regions.

"It's a different story for the rest of the UK, which will be considerably colder and wetter.

”What we will see on Thursday is very windy and severe gales, and even some snow in the mountainous regions of Scotland which could make for very unpleasant conditions.