The cold snap has arrived in Britain and temperatures are expected to drop below freezing this weekend.

Frosty conditions will develop overnight on Friday in some parts of England but it will be dry so there is little chance of snow.

The coldest night of the winter so far was experienced in Scotland on Wednesday into Thursday, according to the Met Office, with Braemar in Aberdeenshire reaching -10.5C (13.1F).

A Met Office spokeswoman, Nicola Maxey, said the wintry weather would continue into the weekend, adding that areas where there were clear skies were expected to experience the coldest temperatures.

“We are going to see a fairly cloudy day today. It’s a bit grey, fairly dry, with a few sunny spells where we get breaks in the clouds,” she said. “There will be some isolated light showers in the north-west and it’s going to feel fairly cold, with temperatures for most staying in the low single figures.”

Maxey said it would struggle to rise above freezing in the north-east, while temperatures in London on Friday should be 5C or 6C. Temperatures were predicted to fall below freezing later on Friday, with some parts of the country facing lows of -4C or -5C.

“Where we get the breaks in the cloud for sunshine, we will also get the coldest temperatures at night,” Maxey said, noting there could be lows of -3C in London, while Newcastle and Manchester, where it is cloudier, will have minimum temperatures of 1C or 2C.

Temperatures are likely to increase slightly on Sunday, after a cloudy and cold Saturday, with sunny spells for some and light drizzle in the west.

As the weekend draws to a close, temperatures in London and Bristol were expected to creep into double digits as colder air moves away. However, this will not be the case in Scotland as a low-pressure weather system will bring stronger winds. The Met Office will issue a yellow weather warning for Monday into Tuesday.