Britain braces itself with fresh blast of wintry weather on the way

Britain is bracing itself for another week of wintry weather with snow forecast to fall in southern parts of the UK by midweek.

Air from the Arctic is keeping overnight temperatures below freezing, with some parts of the UK colder than Ukraine and Iceland.

Braemar in Aberdeenshire saw the lowest temperature in four years at the weekend when the mercury dropped to minus 14.1C (7F).

Little cloud cover and lows of minus 7C (19F) in some rural parts on Monday night will see a harsh frost, leaving icy conditions in its wake.

Another blast of cold air from the north Atlantic into Wednesday is expected to bring a risk of snow to central and eastern parts.

Lindsay Mears from the Met Office said: "Into Wednesday we are expecting another very cold day with some patchy snow on low levels in central and eastern parts of the UK. More cold air will move in, bringing rain, sleet and strong winds, possibly turning to snow over lower levels as far as London."

Any snowfall is expected to be light, she said, adding that it will slowly clear away eastwards during Thursday.

A band of heavy rain on Tuesday could see up to 40mm fall in north west Scotland, the Met Office said.

Ms Mears added: "It's going to be pretty cold for the rest of the week with some strong winds on Tuesday and Wednesday. And with the wind chill factor it will feel very cold."

Aberdeen, with a low of minus 1C (30F), is set to be colder than Kiev (8C/46F) and Reykjavik (0C/32F) on Monday.