Wrap up! Snow on way as odds are slashed on a white Christmas

TEMPERATURES could dip as low as -10C in Scotland this week making it colder than the Russian city of St Petersburg, say forecasters.

Widespread frost and snowfall is on the way, following on from icy mornings that affected much of the country at the weekend.

Temperatures mostly stayed above freezing in the early hours of yesterday, with a touch of frost and sub-zero temperatures in isolated locations, such as Cairnwell, near Blairgowrie, Perthshire.

Now forecasters have warned the temperature is expected to fall even lower than the -6C recorded at Braemar, Royal Deeside, on November 6, which would be far colder than the freezing point lows expected in St Petersburg this week.

Met Office forecaster Helen Roberts said that despite the mild start to yesterday it will become increasingly cold as the week progresses.

She added: ‘A return to cold is the theme for this week – cold, breezy, with a return of widespread overnight frost and wintry showers predominantly around the coastal fringes of the UK.

‘Thursday is looking like it might be the coldest day and night of the week.

‘We will potentially have some lying snow across the hills of Scotland and northern England and that always helps to keep temperatures down, so we could potentially see temperatures as low as -8C, possibly -10C, across parts of Scotland where there is lying snow by Thursday night.

‘And even across England and Wales we could see -6C to -8C and some snow across hillier parts.’

The Met Office yesterday issued a yellow ‘be aware’ warning, valid from 5pm yesterday to 9am this morning, saying ice ‘may persist in some places throughout the night’.

It added: ‘Icy patches will develop on untreated roads, pavements and cycle paths or where showers cause wash-off on treated roads. Showers will be wintry on the high ground, bringing an additional hazard.’

Meanwhile, bookmaker Ladbrokes says the chance of a white Christ

‘Significant snowfall’

mas has been slashed to an odds-on 8/15. A spokesman for the firm said: ‘The weather outside is frightful, and the odds suggest it’s going to get colder and snowier by Christmas.’

And former BBC and Met Office forecaster, John Hammond, who now runs the information service weathertrending, predicted plenty of snow would arrive in Scotland this week.

He said: ‘Significant snowfall is certainly expected across hills of northern Britain in the next week and low-lying areas inland from the sea could well be affected by the heavier wintry showers.’

The cold weather may confuse those who took part in a study commissioned by wood-burning stove brand Contura ahead of ‘National Cosy Night’ on Winter’s Eve, which falls on Thursday. It found more than 80 per cent of Brits are unsure about when winter begins.

Many – 30 per cent – believed the coldest season begins on November 1, while only 16 per cent knew that December 1 was its first day.

Overall, though, the Met Office’s latest estimate for 2017 suggests the year will be the second or third warmest in a record stretching back to 1850.

Although 2017 isn’t likely to break the record global mean surface temperatures set over the previous two years, climate scientists will regard this year’s figure as noteworthy because it will be the warmest year in the series which hasn’t been influenced by an El Niño event.

Professor Tim Osborn, director of the University of East Anglia’s Climatic Research Unit, said: ‘Data so far indicates that 2017 will be around 1C above pre-industrial levels, an increase almost entirely due to human activities – principally the release of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere by burning coal, oil and gas.’