Swaths of the UK have been blasted by icy temperatures, with the cold snap expected to return towards the end of the week and forecasters warning of a freezing La Niña weather event.

Snow fell on Monday on high ground in Scotland as Arctic air enveloped parts of the British Isles, but stronger winds than expected meant temperatures did not drop as low as they were predicted to.

The mercury plunged to -4C (25F) in parts of the UK on Sunday night, with the coldest temperatures recorded in Scotland, Gloucestershire and mid Wales.

Stepping out this morning? 🏃‍♀️You will need that extra layer - a widespread frost with temperatures below freezing for many #brrrrrrrrrrrr pic.twitter.com/wqCB9tV107 — Met Office (@metoffice) November 13, 2017

It comes after the Met Office warned a full La Niña weather event was likely this winter. One last occurred in 2010, when most of the British Isles was left covered in snow.

The Met Office said the wintry weather would give way to fog and mist on Tuesday morning in parts of England and Wales, as milder air moved in from the Atlantic.



But forecasters said the chill would return before the weekend, and predicted a cold spell from 26 November to 10 December.

The Met Office forecaster Simon Partridge said: “We’ve had three short cold snaps over the past three weekends, but it will become less cold over the coming days, before another, more prolonged cold spell into next weekend.”

The outlook for the rest of the week is for milder, cloudier and damp conditions until Friday.

It follows an unusually mild and dry October, the eighth warmest since records began in 1910, the Met Office said.

Forecasters said temperatures were kept higher than usual for the season by mild west or south-westerly airflows.