The UK is at risk of freezing as an icy blast of -5C looms, leaving swaths of the country blanketed in snow. New weather maps have shown the country is just weeks away from plunging into snowglobe conditions.

WX Charts forecasts show that in some parts of the country the chance of seeing the white stuff in Scotland on Monday November 4 is up to 80 per cent, just over two weeks away.

In Scotland, the Highlands and Scottish Borders are the areas with the highest chance of snow. In England, snow is forecast in the northern Pennines.

Weather expert Jim Dale, chief meteorologist and founder of the British Weather Services, also says it could snow.

He said: “Colder yes, in a northern air current. At the moment it is only snowing in the Scottish mountains, possibly in the higher northern Pennines.

“It's a short observation period, as always, but snow in the south this early in the season is becoming a rare event.”

The Met Office has a longer-range forecast covering the period from Monday 4 November to Monday 18 November.

It said: “Following a potentially quiet start to November, with high pressure around the UK often leading to drier conditions and a risk of frost and fog, which may be slow to clear in places, it is likely “That this will increasingly be the case.” shifted so that lower pressures become more dominant over time.

“Therefore, rain or showers will become more common from mid-November.

“Temperatures may initially be below average, but will likely return to average as more unsettled conditions set in.”

However, conditions currently look somewhat milder. The Met Office's five-day weather forecast explains more.

It will remain unsettled this evening and this evening, with frequent showers or prolonged periods of rain across Northern Ireland and Scotland, it said. However, it is also said that “elsewhere there are predominantly dry periods with clear periods”.

It continues: “It will be very windy this evening with strong gales in the north, but the wind will slowly die down towards dawn.”