West Midlands weather: Snow on the horizon as Arctic blast hits

Temperatures are set to plummet by next week, with the mercury dropping below 0C.

Parts of the UK are being warned to expect snow when an Arctic air mass creates freezing overnight conditions as it sweeps across the country.

Meanwhile, a number of severe weather warnings have been issued by The Met Office for today for the Grampian and Central, Tayside and Fife regions of Scotland in relation to flooding.

However, after the weekend, colder and drier conditions will spread southwards and create conditions typical for January.

By the middle of next week, temperatures in the region are predicted to plummet, ranging between 0C (32F) and 5C (41F), and there will be a mix of sunshine and showers.

The Met Office said: "These showers are increasingly likely to fall as sleet or snow to low levels across the north of the UK.

"There is also a risk of some sleet and snow in the south, although many areas here are likely to be dry with some sunshine for much of the time."

It is too early to predict exactly where the snow could fall, forecasters added.

Meteorologist Emma Sharples said: "Areas exposed to a northerly wind might perhaps be more exposed to seeing those showers, but until we know what weather features are going to run through that wind coming from the north, it's a bit difficult to say any more than that."

The change in temperature will also bring much drier conditions, with high pressure close to the UK.

That will be welcome news to flood-hit communities. It was the warmest December since records began in 1910 – and the wettest of any calendar month on record.

Mean temperatures were about 4C (7.2F) above the long-term average.

The Met Office says there is a direct link between the warmth and the record rains that brought widespread floods across Scotland, Northern Ireland and northern England.