UK weather: frosty start in London and first sign of winter 2017 snow

Britain woke to the first major frost of winter today and snowfall in the Scottish Highlands, after the coldest autumn night of the year so far.

A temperature of minus 6C (21.2F) was recorded in Braemar, Aberdeenshire - but that still lagged behind the coldest night of 2017, when minus 10.1C (13.8F) was recorded on January 30 in the same place.

It is still some way off the coldest November temperature of last year, when minus 12.1C (10.2F) was registered, again in Braemar.

A largely cloudless night failed to insulate the land and allowed heat to escape, "leading to the widespread frost", Met Office forecaster Oli Claydon said.

Most of the UK will remain largely bright and chilly for the rest of the week, with highs of around 10C to 12C (50F to 53.6F), he added.

Cairngorm Mountain in the Scottish Highlands was dusted with snow, and there was a thick frost this morning in London's Richmond Park.

Clouds, wind and rain will be felt across parts of Scotland and the far North West, moving into Northern Ireland and western Wales and western England by Monday night, according to the Met Office forecast.

The band of rain and wind will then move slowly south east, pulling cooler air down with it. Frosty conditions may be seen, particularly in central areas, Mr Claydon added.

Wednesday and Thursday will remain largely dry in the South and South East, but rain is likely to persist in the North West.

For the South on Friday and Saturday, it will be "fairly brisk with showers moving in from the West with periods of sunshine mixed in", Mr Claydon added.

He said: "The slow-moving cold front is spinning off a low-pressure system. As we move closer to the weekend the system starts to pull cooler air from the North West down, bringing a cooler feel.

"It's also responsible for the showery set-up we're likely to see on Friday.

"Then, there will be fairly widespread blustery cold showers across the UK with periods of brightness mixed in."

It is too early to predict confidently what conditions will be like from Sunday onwards, the Met Office added.