The big freeze continues as Scots face-13c

Just two weeks before the start of British Summer Time, winter is about to “bite back” across Scotland, with bone-chilling nights of -13C next week.

Today sees a brief respite from Arctic conditions before more snow and plunging temperatures return for most of the country on Monday.

By Wednesday night, the Met Office is predicting a low of -13C (8F) in Scotland.

This morning, the country is emerging from yet another spell of snow last night which was forecast to result in showers across vast swathes of the country.

The main problem now is for snow to thaw then freeze again, leading to treacherous conditions on some roads and pavements today.

In England, farmers will try to recover lambs and other livestock buried by heavy snow on Thursday and Friday.

Tom Morgan, of the Met Office, said the country will enjoy some respite from the cold today with a high of 11C (52F) possible, which is higher than average for the time of year.

However, he added: “Winter bites back on Monday. No warnings are out yet but I expect almost all of Scotland to see snow again by Monday evening, and it could be disruptive.

“The cold Arctic air we have been seeing recently comes back down across the country, resulting in a bitterly cold night on Monday, with -12C (10F) possible.

“Things remain very cold into Wednesday, with a band of snow pushing up from the south west and a low of -13C (8F) possible overnight into Thursday morning.”

The Met Office longrange forecast has cold conditions persisting until the “latter part of March”.