The UK’s warm autumn conditions came to an abrupt end on Saturday as a cold snap brought snow and ice to parts of Scotland and north-east England and unseasonably cold weather to the rest of the country.

Gritters were sent out in County Durham and Cumbria on the last day of British summertime, as the Met Office issued yellow warnings for northern Scotland and Northern Ireland. Residents in County Durham awoke to find their cars covered in thick blankets of snow.

The Met Office forecaster Helen Roberts said daytime temperatures were remarkably low for the time of year, with temperatures well below the average of 14C in south-east England and 8C in the north. The highest temperature on Saturday was 8C in the Isles of Scilly, and Pembrey Sands and Anglesey in Wales.

The temperature in Sennybridge, south Wales, dropped as low as -3.3C in the early hours of Saturday, while parts of the Scottish highlands received several centimetres of snow. Meteorologist John West said that temperatures on Friday and Saturday had been some of the coldest October days in a decade.

Sunday is expected to be less breezy than Saturday, which will reduce the wind chill, and sunshine is forecast for the west of the country.

Forecasters said icy patches were expected to form on Saturday night in areas where rain had fallen, and that there would be a widespread frost on Sunday morning.

Joanna Royle (@JoannaRoyle) Don’t remember inviting you! #uksnow pic.twitter.com/eBkUw742O2

It will remain cold and crisp on Monday, but temperatures will rise during the week, reaching 13C in some areas on Friday. The clocks return to Greenwich mean time at 2am on Sunday.

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The practice of daylight saving time could end across Europe next year, with scientists and politicians increasingly concerned about the impact it has on the human sleep cycle. The autumn change is tolerated well by most, but the spring switch to daylight saving time has been found to cause symptoms similar to jetlag in some people.

The European parliament voted to reconsider daylight saving time last year after a German investigation in 2016 found “the process of adaptation to the time change might be more difficult for some people than has been assumed in earlier years”.

The report called for further research, but before that happened Lithuania asked the European commission to act. A public consultation found that 80% of people were in favour of abolishing the clock changes, and the European commission has since recommended member states do so.

In many European countries, daylight saving time was introduced after the 1973 oil crisis. In Britain it dates back to the 1916 Summer Time Act.