Cold weather set to return

Wintry weather conditions are set to return to the UK despite the recent sunshine, forecasters have said.

A cold front is believed to be moving southwards from Scotland, bringing heavy rain, hail and sleet, as well as snow on higher ground over the weekend.

Scotland is expected see the worst of the weather, with high ground in Northern Ireland, north Wales and northern England also expecting snow.

John Hutchinson, of MeteoGroup, said: "Across the country, there will be some sunny spells but also some showers which could be quite heavy in places.

"Most of the heaviest showers will probably die out inland overnight although a few wintry showers could still occur anywhere. Across northern parts of Scotland the showers will become snow during the day."

Wintry showers - including snow - will affect England and Wales Saturday night, Mr Hutchinson added.

Thursday was the hottest day of the year so far in Inverbervie, Aberdeenshire, which hit 18.9C, according to MeteoGroup.

But the temperature in Aberdeen dropped to 10C on Friday, and although it reached 16C in south-eastern England, cooler weather is on the way.

Earlier this week, the Met Office warned that this summer is likely to be hotter and wetter than usual.

It is predicting a return to the traditional British summer of "three fine days and then a thunderstorm".

But forecasters refused to rule out a repeat of last year's torrential rain, which caused widespread flooding, nor would they rule out an extremely dry summer.

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