Northern Ireland weather: Met Office says Arctic air will bring snow across Northern Ireland this week, with widespread icy roads

The Met Office said this week will start with the coldest day of the year so far with temperatures dropping to near freezing in northern parts of the UK.

The forecast comes as Yellow warnings were issued for snow and ice across most of Scotland and north-east England for Monday and Tuesday.

Speaking specifically about NI, a Met Office spokesman said: "We will see snow at times across Northern Ireland from Monday through to Wednesday this week. There are no snow warnings for Northern Ireland at this time but do keep tuned to our website over the coming days."

He added: "Colder air from the Arctic will move across Northern Ireland from Monday, and bring a mixture of sunny spells and snow showers.

"Snow showers will move in from the north, so some southern parts of Northern Ireland may miss them altogether. Snow showers will continue through Tuesday but will ease on Wednesday."

He said that there could be 1-3cm of snow over the hills and "perhaps a temporary covering to lower levels at times" but he added that "icy stretches and frost will also become more of a widespread hazard".

"As the winds will be coming from the north, there is no Beast from the East anywhere in the UK.

"Thursday at this stage should be dry ahead of rain moving in for Friday from the Atlantic, but there are uncertainties with the details of this at this stage."

Northerly winds will make it feel even colder – parts of north-east Scotland will feel like minus 4C, the Met Office said.

The UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) has issued a cold weather alert and has placed north-east England, north-west England and Yorkshire under a level three alert, with the rest of England at level two.

A level three alert means there is a 90% chance of severely cold weather, icy conditions or heavy snow, which could increase the health risk to vulnerable patients, the NHS said.

All affected areas are under alert between 1am on Monday and midnight on Thursday.