UK cold weather: Temperatures to plummet 14C in just 36 hours as first winter blast hits

A "significant windchill" coupled with bouts of snow is expected to hit parts of Britain within the coming days.

Forecasters are poised for winter's first bite this weekend, with Friday, November 24 sparking the sudden change in the mercury, when the cold easterly front pushes across towards the UK.

One meteorologist told Express.co.uk the nationwide icy blast would hang around for three to four days, before sloping off and becoming milder.

But some areas are due to feel sharper drops than others, with counties such as Oxfordshire plunging 14C in just 36 hours, with a 13C day on Thursday dropping all the way down to a -1C night on Friday.

The North East is set to be the worst affected region with snow likely to accumulate on both high and low ground, with Sunderland, Middlesborough and Durham likely to be among the areas hit.

North eastern Scotland, specifically the Pennines, is also due to see sleet - and despite weather maps suggesting a potentially thick dusting, it's not yet known how treacherous conditions will be.

Jim Dale, a senior meteorologist for British Weather Services, told Express.co.uk: "The cold is coming for all on Friday, snow for the Highlands & Grampians, perhaps bits in the North East.

"It'll be lasting around three to four days, but central Europe will be getting the real cold and snowy plunge."

He added that the cold will stoop as low as -5C in some areas, with a "significant windchill" set to impact eastern counties at least on Friday and Saturday.

In the early hours of Saturday, maps show counties such as Kent and Essex in the South East straddling 0C, with the suburbs of Manchester seeing around -2C by 3am.

County Durham in the North East will struggle to push above freezing later on Saturday morning, with BBC weather predicting the mercury will only hit about 5C by midday.

The usual north-south split seems to disappear when it comes to who gets the coldest freeze on Saturday, as even southern towns such as Cheshunt in Hertfordshire will only hit around 6C by early afternoon.

Looking further north, Nelson in Lancashire will actually hover just above freezing overnight on Friday, but it will only reach 4C on Saturday before the mercury slides again to 2C by 6pm.

The 'four day' freeze

Looking ahead to Sunday, the Met Office predicts the cold weather will still be around, but "light showers" will be "confined to the North Sea coastline".

It also indicates that a slight recouperation in temperatures will happen before a potential second freeze moves in.

From November 26 to December 5, its outlook says: "Fairly settled with colder air in place across much of the UK initially, with any remaining light showers probably just confined to the North Sea coastline, inland locations often clear, so frosty by night and bright by day.

"Slightly milder air with increased cloud cover and some patchy rain and drizzle will attempt to sporadically push in from the west or north-west, but the timing of this and ultimate south-eastward extent remain uncertain.

"Ultimately, most of the UK is likely to get into the milder air for a short time, although the far south-east may continue to experience the slightly colder conditions.

"Thereafter, a continuation of more settled conditions, especially in southern areas, with any meaningful rainfall most likely confined to the north-west and temperatures near or slightly below average."