UK weather: When will it snow and what has to happen? Met Office explain winter blast

As we head into the wintry months, temperatures have dropped significantly, with many Brits now feeling the chill. But there's one question on many people's minds - when will we see the first ?

While October may seem relatively early for biting cold temperatures have some people questioning whether or not snow could be on the horizon. While temperatures could be set to soar in the coming days to 20C in some areas, forecasts further ahead had shown chances of a wintry blast hitting the UK.

Maps from indicating that temperatures could be set to plummet from Lands' End to John O' Groats. The cold temperatures could be accompanied by swathes of ice in an abrupt introduction to winter, with the saying there is a chance of snow - just perhaps not to the extent some people were hoping for.

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Giving their verdict on the huge icy front, a Met Office spokesperson said: "There's a chance of dusting of snow over the tops of the Scottish mountains over the next few days, though this is entirely typical of the time of year. That dusting of over the Scottish mountains will be part of a weather front that will bring some persistent rain to parts of western Scotland tonight and tomorrow, with a widely wet day for much of Scotland on Saturday."

According to NetWeather's snow tracker, there's currently no snow forecast for Fort William, the town known as the gateway to Ben Nevis, the UK's highest peak, through the end of the weak. But, as the Met Office explains, there need to be some specific conditions in place for Brits to see snow.

What needs to happen for it to snow in the UK?

According to the Met Office, there needs to be a combination of air that's cold enough and a supply of moisture for Brits to enjoy a dusting of snowfall. The service explains: "To get cold air across the UK we need winds from the north or east. Northerly winds (i.e. air travelling from north to the south) bring the air straight from the Arctic and over a cold sea to reach the UK. In winter, easterly winds (i.e. travelling for the east to the west) are cold because they arrive from the cold continental interior of mainland Europe...

"The most common wind direction in the UK is south-westerly though, so more often than not we get relatively mild air from the Atlantic bringing rain, rather than this cold air from the north and east which often turns any rain to snow."

When it comes to the moisture element, the Met Office says: "Often with the cold easterly winds, and the air travelling over so much dry land, there is very little moisture in it to form the snow and we end up with some crisp winter sunshine instead. We either require the cold air to meet a rain-bearing front and turn it into snow, or for the cold air to pick up enough moisture from its short journey across the North Sea, to form showers.

"There are also the effects of air rising up hills and mountains. As it’s usually colder higher up in the atmosphere, when the air rises up the hill, it becomes colder, and condenses to form cloud and precipitation. The precipitation will either be rain or snow, depending on just how cold the air is, and where the “freezing level” is."

The "freezing level" is the part of the atmosphere where the air temperature is at 0C. It can be as low as 200ft or so above sea level some days, which would see many towns and cities also enjoying snowfall as they sit at 200ft or above sea level.