Mapped: Where in the UK will see snow this week as first flurries of winter predicted

The first flurries of snow were predicted to hit the UK this week, just days after two violent storms lashed the country.

With temperatures plummeting in the wake of Storms Austen and Boelo, parts of Scotland were forecast to see a little snow falling on high grounds in the early hours of Wednesday morning.

The snow was expected to fall in parts across the Central Highlands, near Loch Rannoch and Pitlochry, for a short time between 2am and 3.30am.

A Met Office weather map detailed the location of the scattered snowfall, with small patches of white and grey representing snow amid a band of blue rain.

It comes after the Met Office put in place a yellow weather warning for almost the entirety of Scotland lasting until Tuesday evening, as gusts of gale-force winds buffered the north of the UK.

Meanwhile, freezing temperatures could sweep as early as November as El Niño continues to wreak havoc on global weather.

Forecasters warned the weather phenomenon, which has already smashed global benchmarks to become the strongest weather event in history, could disrupt a large, high-altitude ring of swirling cold winds spinning above the Arctic known as the stratospheric polar vortex.

While a strong polar vortex helps to contain very cold winds and conditions within the North Pole, disruptions can weaken the jet stream, sending severe, freezing Arctic air plunging southward into North America and Europe.

Experts are now predicting the polar vortex will become weaker as early as November rather than in January 2027 as originally thought.

The prediction comes after Scotland has been hit hard by severe weather in the last few days, with one man killed by a falling tree in Dumfries and Galloway on Sunday.

Thousands of homes were left without power after falling trees and debris brought down power lines, and several schools were forced to close on Monday because of the lack of power.

Last year, the first snows of 2025 fell early on October 25 in the Cairngorm Mountain Resort in Scotland following an Arctic air mass.

And in November, Scotland experienced a Met Office amber weather warning when heavy snow and icy hit the north and north-east of the country, closing more than 100 schools and causing chaos on the roads.

At the time of the cold snap, the temperature plummeted to a chilly -12.6C in Tomintoul.

With unsettled weather on the way for the rest of autumn, it will not be long before the UK braces itself for the next storm, which this season, by convention, is set to be named Storm Chloe.

It will be followed alphabetically with Storms Dano, Evelyn, Finn, Gwendolyn and Heather.