The UK could be set to see snow as soon as Friday as Britain braces for a winter blast in March, according to the Met Office.
Based on a long-range forecast, there is a “small chance” of “organized rain” or snow in southern England by the weekend.
Other weather providers show that over the next month, snowstorms could engulf the UK with a wintry blast in March.
Some maps show snow covering much of the UK in what will be a ‘very cold and snowy’ March.
The Weather Outlook published a set of weather maps revealing that winter weather will peak in the second week of March.
That week there could be non-stop snow flurries across the country for seven days in a row.
Scotland will bear the brunt of the initial wave before the Arctic weather front covers almost the entire country 24 hours later on Tuesday, March 7.
Flurries of snow and blizzards are expected to last through at least next Monday, March 13, when the long-range forecast ends.
Chances of a dramatic drop in temperatures are attributed to a sudden stratospheric warming (SSW) and polar vortex.
Both have led to unpredictable weather in recent weeks.
They are also responsible for the freezing temperatures of 2018 that caused the ‘Beast from the East’.
The Met Office said: “Mostly cloudy on Friday is likely with some light showers in places, although some clear or sunny spells remain possible.”
‘Into the weekend, stable conditions are expected to continue, bringing variable clouds with some clear sunny spells.
“The rains mainly along the northern and eastern coasts could be winter in the foothills. Later in the period, the high pressure is expected to migrate to the northwest, increasing the probability of winter showers in the north and east.
“There is a small chance that more organized rain or snow will spread to the south, and the west and northwest are more likely to remain under a stable regime.
‘Generally light to moderate winds, possibly becoming stronger in the north. Generally cooler than average temperatures, with a chance of frost overnight.
Met Office meteorologist Tom Morgan said: “It looks like the month will start on the cool side.” It’s a pretty cold week.
“The first week is likely to see below average temperatures, but not exceptionally.
“But from next weekend onwards, there are some small indications that we will see the winds shift to the north and that will bring much cooler conditions to the south.”
“It will be Scotland and the north-eastern parts of the UK that are likely to see snow from that period.
But at this stage it is very well balanced. We could start to see a bit more of a warmer Atlantic flow from the middle of the month onwards.
“It’s really too early to tell, but it looks like March at this point has a slightly higher chance of being a colder month than a warmer month.”
He said the next few days are expected to remain dry but cool, with some overnight frost, in what are “fairly standard conditions for the time of year.”
Get in touch with our news team by emailing us at webnews@metro.co.uk.
For more stories like this, see our news page.