Forecasters warn of snow, wind and rain ahead of Easter break

  • Weather

British hopes for a sunny Easter break have been dealt a blow with forecasters warning of a week of wind, rain and even snow.

Temperatures will plunge to a low of -1C overnight and up to 5cm of snow could fall on higher ground in northern England and Scotland.

Wintry snow showers are set to hit Scotland mainly today while the rest of Britain will be hit by lashing rain and strong winds.

A yellow warning for ice across the top half of Britain has been issued by the Met Office, who spoke of a "potential for hazardous driving conditions".

Onlookers watch as waves crash into a harbour in North Devon on Sunday. Credit: PA Wire

But Brits should enjoy a brief respite from the gloomy weather over Easter weekend with dry conditions set to take over.

Forecaster Charles Powell said: "It looks like the rain will by and large clear at the weekend, but it will be quite cloudy. It looks like a dry weekend with winds, but it probably won't be bright.

"People can head outside and do things and travel around a bit more safely.

"But I'm not going to promise a huge amount of sunshine because I think there will be quite a lot of cloud. But it will be quite a marked change from this weekend."