Britain is to be battered by rain and snow from next week while temperatures could plummet to 0C this weekend, the Met Office has warned.
Despite March 1 marking the start of the meteorological spring, bookies predict it could be the coldest third month of the year in UK history.
Although next week will initially be dry with ‘clear and sunny spells’, conditions will soon deteriorate, with strong winds bringing a risk of coastal gales in the north and west of the country.
These will be followed by an Arctic blast, bringing ‘bands of rain’ with snow moving across the north east and central areas, the Met said.
Atlantic weather systems will bring ‘spells of wet and windy weather’ and make conditions ‘rather cold across much of the UK’, the forecast predicts.
In the latter half of March, the ‘unsettled weather’ will continue, reported the Met Office, adding that winds could be ‘disruptive’ to daily life.
Despite March 1 marking the start of the meteorological spring, bookies predict it will be the coldest third month of the year in UK history. (Pictured: Dog walkers brave the rain and cold conditions on Tynemouth beach, in North Tyneside on Friday)
Although next week will initially be dry with ‘clear and sunny spells’, conditions will soon deteriorate, with strong winds bringing a risk of coastal gales in the north and west of the country. (Pictured: Dog walkers brave the rain and cold conditions on Tynemouth beach, in North Tyneside on Friday)
A large swathe of rainfall can be seen falling across the east of the country on Friday morning
Atlantic weather systems will bring ‘spells of wet and windy weather’ and make conditions ‘rather cold across much of the UK’, the forecast predicts. (Pictured: Dog walkers brave the rain and cold conditions on Tynemouth beach, in North Tyneside on Friday)
Early showers will also fall in the southwest in England and Wales on Sunday, while nationwide, conditions from Sunday to Tuesday will be ‘rather cold by day, with frosts overnight.’ (Pictured: Commuters in London walk through the rain after experiencing disruption on the underground due to industrial action)
The frosty outlook comes as this weekend is set to get off to a wet start, with ‘cloud and rain lingering’ in the east of the country on Friday. (Car is driven through a flooded country lane in Oxfordshire)
Snow will remain likely but it is expected to become shorter-lived, however the end of the month may see ‘a north-south split develop with high pressure across the south and more changeable conditions likely in the north.’
The frosty outlook comes as this weekend is set to get off to a wet start, with ‘cloud and rain lingering’ in the east of the country on Friday.
Weather forecast imaging shows a huge swathe of rainfall spreading across the entire eastern coastline today.
The Met forecast reads: ‘Dull, chilly and cloudy with spells of rain and drizzle for the eastern side of the UK.
‘Elsewhere, brighter with sunny spells, but also a few showers in the west.’
It will also remain cold in the west and north on Friday with the addition of frost, ‘particularly in the northwest’.
A Met Office spokesperson told the Mirror: ‘Most persistent rain will be in Aberdeenshire and towards Northumberland but further west drizzly bits and pieces can’t be ruled out in the central belt towards Cumbria, even Lancashire and Yorkshire seeing a damp start to the day.
‘A bit more in the way of persistent rain for east Yorkshire, Lincolnshire, down towards East Anglia for a time.
Atlantic weather systems will bring ‘spells of wet and windy weather’ and make conditions ‘rather cold across much of the UK’, the forecast predicts. (Pictured: Rainfall batters east of the country on Friday)
‘Showers will run in across Cerrigydrudion, Pembrokeshire, Cornwall and Devon and we will see a few just developing across Northern Ireland.
‘One or two just running in across north west Scotland but here some brighter weather where sunshine will develop during the day.’
On Saturday, south east and central areas will see clouds and rain while areas in the north and Midlands, including Manchester, Leeds and Birmingham, will see lows of 0C on Sunday.
Early showers will also fall in the southwest in England and Wales on Sunday, while nationwide, conditions from Sunday to Tuesday will be ‘rather cold by day, with frosts overnight.’
It comes as bookmaker Coral predicts this March could be the coldest the UK has ever recorded, with odds for the record on at 4-5.
‘Spring and summer are on the horizon but it won’t feel like that this month, March now odds on in our book to break the record for the coldest third month of the year ever recorded,’ said Coral’s Harry Aitkenhead.