UK weather forecast: When 603-mile cold blast hits Britain as temperatures plunge to -4C

A vast icy plume of cold weather is descending on Britain from the frozen Arctic over the next 24 hours and the Met Office says the country could see snow in places.

New maps from forecaster WXCharts show a huge 603-mile-long from John O'Groats to Land's End.

In parts of the Scottish Highlands around Inverness and Aviemore the first snows of the season could be landing tonight, Saturday October 12, and tomorrow, Sunday October 13, and a bitter wind will make it feel like -4C in places.

Most of the rest of the country will also see cold temperatures tonight, with freezing being the norm even in large cities such as London and Birmingham.

A spokesperson for Met Office said last night: "There's a chance of a dusting of snow over the tops of the Scottish mountains over the next dew days, though this is entirely typical of the time of year.

"That dusting of snow over the Scottish mountains will be part of a weather front that will bring some persistent rain to parts of western Scotland tonight and tomorrow, with a widely wet day for much of Scotland on Saturday."

But NetWeather.tv's forecaster Nick Finns revealed that Tropical Storm Leslie, which hit the US earlier this month, could be responsible for warmer next week bringing some relief.

He said: "Tropical Storm Leslie, currently over the mid sub-tropical North Atlantic with sustained winds of 60mph, looks to track north then gets picked up by the jet stream on Saturday.

"The remnants of ex-tropical storm Leslie do look to inject tropical moisture, warmth and energy into the strengthening cyclonic southerly flow that looks to develop across western Europe, including the UK, ahead of an amplifying upper trough moving east over the North Atlantic early next week.

"This injection of warm and moist air combined with increasing lift ahead of the upper trough approaching from the west may mean some heavy showers or longer spells of heavy rain spreading north across parts of the UK from Tuesday afternoon.

"Given the origin of the airmass, some the rain could be heavy and persistent enough to bring some flooding, especially if areas of low pressure or waves develop along the 'baroclinic' zone - where waving fronts, separating warm/humid air to the east and colder air to the west, produce pulses of heavy rain."

This Evening and Tonight:

Windy conditions along eastern coast of the nation as rain steadily clears during Saturday evening. Then becoming mostly dry with clear spells overnight as winds ease from the west. Chilly for all with a widespread frost in the north.

Sunday:

Mostly fine and dry. Plenty of sunshine at first, but cloud steadily increasing and rain reaching the far west by evening. Temperatures below average for mid October.

Outlook for Monday to Wednesday:

Turning notably milder for the new week. A few brighter periods are possible on Monday and Tuesday, but rather cloudy overall. Widely unsettled on Wednesday with areas of heavy rain.