UK weather: Britain faces three weeks of arctic temperatures

Britain is braced for three weeks of snow and polar winds, the Met Office is warning.

Temperatures dropped to -3C across large swathes of the UK on Sunday night - colder than the Norwegian capital Oslo - with snow covering the Pennines, in Cumbria, Snowdonia, in Wales, and the Cairngorms, in Scotland, reports Metro.

And while the mercury is forecast to climb back to as high as 13C in the South tomorrow, the cold snap is expected to return with a vengeance from Friday, reports The Sun.

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Weather forecaster Simon Patridge 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.”

A Met Office spokesperson said freezing conditions were expected between 26 November and 10 December, with an increased chance of snow and frost.

Forecasters predict it could get as cold as -15C this winter, with Arctic air bringing the chance of snow across the country.

Betting shop Ladbrokes slashed the odds of snow on Christmas day from 5/6 down to 4/5.

The Weather Outlook forecaster Brian Gaze told The Sun: “It looks like an early winter.”