UK weather maps show just two areas above 0C in England after Polar Vortex warning

An arctic freeze is set to hit the UK in days as temperatures plummet to well below zero. Meteorologists say more than 60 counties will be 0C or colder later this week. Britain is set to hit -3C on Saturday, as a week that started with a yellow weather warning for fog ends in sub-zero temperatures for millions. The cold snap starts on Thursday (November 12) when most of Scotland, northern England, and mid-Wales do not see the mercury climb above 0C by midday.

The weather shows no improvement by Friday (November 13). As Scotland gets colder, down to -3C, more Welsh areas fail to warm up past the point of freezing, and some parts of the west country only hit 0C. It worsens again on Saturday. The start of the weekend sees most of England in negative figures or at 0C, along with almost all of Wales and Scotland, and parts of Northern Ireland. On Sunday, it warms up slightly for many parts, but is still likely to hover around 0C.

The start of next week starts above freezing but still very cold, gradually warming up, according to WX Charts. The Met Office forecast for the coming week says: “Spells of rain continue across the south through midweek. Colder conditions develop further north with showers, some turning wintry. Frosts become increasingly widespread later.” In total, 24 English, 20 Scots, 13 Welsh, and five Northern Irish counties will see the mercury drop to 0C or below on Thursday, Friday and Saturday.

That’s a total of 62. The forecast comes as experts believe the polar vortex winds are due to collapse at their earliest date ever recorded. The vortex blows wind from the west around the north pole every year from late summer to January. However, it usually seperates into two seperate votrices. That effectively forces colder air further south - with northern Europe bearing the brunt of the disruption. This year, experts say the vortex could collapse in November, before the earliest seperation previously seen - November 28, 1969, reports The Telegraph.

The full list of counties where it will hit 0C or colder includes the following. Aberdeen City Aberdeenshire Angus Argyll & Bute Banffshire Clackmannanshire Dumfries & Galloway Dunbartonshire East Lothian Fife Highland Lanarkshire Midlothian Moray Outer Hebrides Perth & Kinross Renfrewshire Scottish Borders Stirling West Lothian County Antrim County Armagh County Fermanagh County Londonderry County Tyrone Blaenau Gwent Carmarthenshire Ceredigion Conwy Denbighshire Flintshire Gwynedd Merthyr Tydfil Monmouthshire Pembrokeshire Powys Rhondda Cynon Taf Wrexham Buckinghamshire Cheshire County Durham Cumbria Derbyshire Dorset Gloucestershire Greater Manchester Herefordshire Lancashire Leicestershire North Yorkshire Northamptonshire Northumberland Nottinghamshire Oxfordshire Shropshire Somerset South Yorkshire Staffordshire Warwickshire West Yorkshire Wiltshire Worcestershire