Met Office verdict on pre-Christmas freeze as 'widespread frost' could takeover in days
EXCLUSIVE: The UK is likely to be blanketed in frost as many areas could be hit with wintry showers.
Early December could be marked with a "widespread frost" as winter sets in for the UK, warns the Met Office - but rain is likely to be the prevailing weather.
While the weather agency told Express.co.uk there was little chance of snow, a weather expert said the festive season could still be marked by sudden cold drops which could lead to road disruption.
Grahame Madge is a Met Office spokesman, told Express.co.uk: "There is no strong signal for snow within the forecast for the rest of autumn or into early December.
"There is always a chance of wintry conditions on the tops of the Scottish mountains but away from these more extreme conditions there is little prospect of snow at lower elevations.
"For the foreseeable future, our weather conditions are far more likely to be driven by the Atlantic which oftens means spells of wet and windy weather.
"In between these systems there is always a chance of experiencing colder conditions but these are interludes are far more likely to bring frosts rather than snow. Indeed many locations in central and northern Britain will see fairly widespread frosts over this weekend."
He added that while many predictions have "little confidence so far", a consistent belief among forecasters is that there is "extremely little prospect of seeing snow."
Meteorologist at British Weather Services Jim Dale told Express.co.uk there would likely be "frosty conditions".
The coldest will be the "Grampians, Highlands, and lowlands in Scotland. That will continue for the rest of this month I think."
While "for the rest of us" there will be "ground frost".
Partly the lack of extreme cold is due to milder temperatures being blown over from the US that “keep us in the fridge rather than the freezer”, he added.
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Mr Dale said however that there is potential for "things we’re not expecting", where we "suddenly get a real cold blast out of nowhere."
The second half of winter is more likely to see the "dislocation of the polar vortex", said the meteorologist.
"That will establish itself more fully as we go through December into January," he added.
The weather as a whole is likely to be similar to last year, with relatively warm weather but with “short, sharp, cold snowy situations” that could lead to disruption, said Mr Dale.
Both the Met Office and Mr Dale said there was likely to be a high quantity of rainfall over the festive season.
