Cold weather is set to continue this week, with temperatures getting progressively colder through to Friday when they are expected to drop as low as -10 °C in some places.

Despite the cold, snow is not a big feature in the forecast as the majority of the UK will see dry and bright conditions. There is a risk of some light and scattered snow showers in some eastern coastal areas on Wednesday and Thursday, but any accumulations will be light and patchy.

The reason for the cold weather is a high pressure sitting over Scandinavia, allowing cold air from eastern Europe to push in over the UK.

But, as we head into the weekend, this weather pattern is set to come under threat as a front of milder air and rain tries to push in from the Atlantic to the west.

Britain will be at the centre of a battle for supremacy between these two competing systems. It’s likely that the mild and wet Atlantic front will grind to a halt as it comes up against the blocking high sitting over Europe, but the uncertainty focuses on exactly where it will stop.

You can see this uncertainty in our forecast temperature range for the next few days, which shows the range of temperatures we could see. As we get to Saturday, the potential range increases significantly – as we could see cold conditions persist or milder conditions take over.

Either way, there is a risk that we may see some snow over the weekend as the rain in the Atlantic weather front collides with the cold air sitting over the country.

Due to the high amount of uncertainty, it’s difficult to give any detail at the moment – but we should have a clearer picture in the coming days. For the latest information, stay up to date with our latest forecasts and warnings.