Arctic air to batter Britain with mercury dropping to as low as 3C

There is set to be a scattering of showers across northwestern parts, most frequent across Scotland. However, the majority of the country will see winds.

It comes after rainfall has caused widespread flooding across England, with 66 flood warnings and 121 flood alerts in place.

Met Office Meteorologist Alex Deakin said: “The weekend does look a lot drier. It’ll be a chilly start to the weekend as well but we could see more wet weather by Sunday night.

“All the heavy rain this week has been caused by an area of low pressure scooting away during Friday and then opening the door to winds coming down from the north bringing with it arctic air so It will feel chilly first thing on Saturday morning.

“That cold air gets cut off by a weak weather front that will bring some wet weather to north west Scotland but in the south we have an area of high pressure and that will bring much of the south as a dry day on Saturday.

“We are going to start pretty chilly on Saturday with pockets of frost in rural parts of the south and certainly frost likely across norther England and Scotland plus Northern Ireland.”

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It comes as heavy rain has brought flooding causing significant travel disruption across England.

The M5 motorway was closed in both directions near Bristol and in South Gloucestershire, with Avon Fire & Rescue Service working to rescue stranded motorists. National Highways reported closures between junctions 14 and 16.

Rail services have also been affected, with the Chiltern Main Line blocked between Bicester North and Banbury due to flooding. Videos on social media showed water spilling onto train tracks.

National Rail warned passengers that wet weather could impact train journeys in England and Wales on Friday. Services to and from Aberystwyth were suspended until 1pm, and the line between Ledbury and Hereford was blocked.

Looking ahead to next week, the weather is expected to remain unsettled across the UK. A wet and windy system is forecast to move northeastwards on Sunday and Monday, primarily affecting England and Wales.

Tuesday should see conditions gradually improving from the west, though rain and strong winds may linger in the northeast for a time.

By midweek, most areas should experience dry weather with some sunshine, albeit with temperatures below average for the season.

The Met Office outlook suggests the following week could bring more changeable conditions, with occasional spells of rain and potentially strong winds interspersed with drier periods. Temperatures are likely to remain close to or slightly below normal.