Britain braces for snow, sleet and freezing fog

Parts of northern England and Scotland set to see the white stuff

Above average temperatures in the UK will give way to icy patches, some snow and unsettled weather in the next week.

People in Britain will enjoy some sunshine on Sunday, which will be drier and brighter than Saturday.

Early morning showers will largely clear away during the day and average temperatures will be around 11C.

"Temperatures are a touch above average for this time of year," said Alex Burkill, a meteorologist at the Met Office.

Conditions will become distinctly colder overnight, with frost and icy patches likely to develop in parts of Scotland, which will see lows of -4C.

Freezing fog is also forecast overnight for the central lowlands of Scotland and north west England, though it will be isolated to those areas.

Monday is likely to be chilly but bright, although parts of the western UK will see outbreaks of drizzly rain.

The rain will continue into Tuesday, which Mr Birkhill said would be "a fairly cloudy day".

By Thursday wet and windy weather in the northwest will meet colder and drier weather from the far east.

This meeting will result in "some sleet and snow", which is expected across high ground in Scotland and in northern England, according to the Met Office.

"Snow across the Pennines is very likely," said Mr Birkhill. "But there might also be some on lower ground in northern England."

The meteorologist added: "There is also a small chance of very unsettled weather towards the end of the week."

Wet, windy and unpredictable weather is likely to arrive by the end of the week, with the changeable conditions expected to last into the middle of December.