Met Office on UK cold snap - and when hot weather will return

The Met Office has shed light on why the UK is experiencing a cold snap - and when warmer temperatures are expected to return. Sky News weather presenter Jo Wheeler also explained that an area of high pressure to the west of the country is responsible for the current gloomy weather.

In recent days, the UK has seen rainfall, sleet, hail and overcast skies, but according to Ms Wheeler, there's a change in sight. "High pressure to the west of the UK and Ireland gave hopes for a few days of settled weather, even though it was forecast to be a 'cloudy high," she said.

She added: "And that is pretty much what we have seen, although the positioning of the high brought cold northerly winds - and eastern counties can vouch for this. The high was also weak enough to allow frontal systems (a collision of cold and warm air) to move through it, so we didn't see entirely dry weather either

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"And, winds were strong enough to give a significant wind chill along the North Sea coasts, which was pretty bitter."

This has resulted in temperatures falling a few degrees below the April average, though, according to Ms Wheeler 'not by much', reports Birmingham Live.

She reassured: "We're just a few days from May now, and a change is on the way. Low pressure, spreading from the south at the weekend, will bring milder conditions but also some rain and fresher winds."

Despite this, the Met Office has predicted drier conditions are on the horizon.

"Temperatures [are] likely to trend upwards, with the chance of a warm to very warm spell in some southern and eastern parts, before conditions probably turn drier, cooler and more settled from the west towards the