Arctic blast brings cold wind, hail and rain as Met Office gives snow update

Showers will continue through Wednesday evening and overnight

A woman walking under an umbrella in the rain, with the City of London in the background (PA Wire)

Arctic air has swept across the UK causing bitter temperatures and frost.

The Met Office has said to expect showers and cold winds as the UK sees below-average temperatures. There is also a chance of patchy frost, the forecaster warned.

Blustery showers, with a small risk of thunder and hail, are forecast for Wednesday, particularly in the north, the forecaster added.

Some snow or sleet may be seen on the Scottish mountains on Wednesday as temperatures will be about 4C or 5C below average for the time of year, with 10C to 13C in Scotland and 13C to 16C in southern England.

Surfers at Tynemouth Longsands beach on the North East coast (Owen Humphreys/PA) (PA Wire)

Clare Nasir, Met Office meteorologist, said: “Yesterday, (there were) severe gales across the north east of Scotland and some persistent rain, all courtesy of this area of low pressure.

“And this low, the position of it, continues to affect our weather through the next few days.”

She said this means “showers, some sunshine and a cold wind”.

The showers will continue through Wednesday evening and overnight, but will fade away in land, and be more frequent across northern and western areas.

Frost might be seen in some areas overnight as temperatures drop to 4C or 5C, then sunshine is forecast.

“Winds won’t be as blustery across in-land areas, showers particularly along the coastline, they may develop in land, but there will be some drier interludes and a mix of cloud and sunshine yet again, temperatures 14C or 15C in the south,” Ms Nasir said.

Friday will generally be a dry day after possible patchy frost again on Thursday night.

She added: “A ridge of high pressure is moving in, so a cold start, with a localised frost, but with that we’ll see some sunshine.

“All change though as we head into the weekend from the north west.”

Temperatures are expected to return nearer to average for this time of year at the weekend, with highs of up to 21C in the south.

Meteorologist Tom Morgan said: “It will be much warmer and settled in the south, but it’s turning wet and windy for western Scotland.

“It’s much more typical September weather on the way into next week too.”