Chilling news: First cold snap of the season is here

THE clocks have gone back, British Summer Time is over... and right on schedule, the first cold snap of winter has arrived.

After weeks of unseasonably mild – albeit rainy – weather, much of the country was expected to wake up to the first frost of the season today. Temperatures were set to go as low as -4C (25F) overnight because of icy winds from the Arctic.

But if you were disappointed by the chilly start to your morning, there’s also some good news. The cold spell is not expected to last, with milder conditions likely to return later in the week.

Met Office forecaster Becky Mitchell said yesterday: ‘We’ve had a cold front that’s moving south across the UK that has introduced some very cold air and wind originating from the Arctic. Most places – particularly in the countryside – will see temperatures close to freezing.

‘ In Scotland it will be even colder. Temperatures could get down to -3C or -4C in parts of the North and Scotland. People should expect to see widespread frost and will find that they need to clear their car windscreens.’

Miss Mitchell said that during the day today it will remain cold, ‘with some places not getting out of single figures’.

She added that it will feel particularly chilly after the mild weather of last week, when most places enjoyed temperatures in double figures, and some parts reached highs of up to 19C (66F).

The wintry conditions are expected to stay for most of the country into tomorrow. But temperatures will to start to rise, making way for the return of milder conditions on Wednesday, when it could hit as high as 15C (59F) in the South.

Miss Mitchell added: ‘We are experiencing below average temperatures so it will be quite a change to the system.

‘But the cold snap is only expected to last a day or two so it will warm up slightly in the week when we start to see milder weather.’ The average daytime temperature for October is 13C (55F).