London could be set for first snow of winter on Friday say forecasters

London could be set for snow on Friday as temperatures drop due to a cold polar maritime wind sweeping across the UK.

The higher points of the capital like Primrose Hill and Crystal Palace are especially likely to see brief snowfall or sleet, the Met Office said.

Tyler Roys, a meteorologist for Accuweather, said that the potential one-inch thick snow could be enough to disrupt travel tomorrow morning.

He told the Standard: "The one thing I am worried about though is that places east of the City of London could see a longer period of snow that could accumulate a coating to 3cm (1inch), especially across the higher locations near the eastern part of the M25 corridor.

“Given that this would occur in the early morning hours, roads could have some slush on it or be icy and any of the non-well traveled roads could be lightly covered by snow. This could make any traveling that has to be done in the early morning hours tricky.”

Parts of the south will begin to feel the winter chill, with temperatures dipping down to -1C (30F) in south-west London.

But the coldest weather is expected in western Scotland overnight when temperatures could drop to an icy -10C (14F).

A Met Office spokeswoman said on Thursday: “Tomorrow morning a band of rain will move westwards across southeast England and there's a chance the rain could briefly turn to snow or sleet in places, particularly over hills and high ground.”

The Met Office had issued a snow and ice warning for parts of Scotland valid until midday on Thursday along with an ice warning for Northern Ireland.

Chief Meteorologist at the Met Office, Dan Suri said: “It’ll certainly feel more wintry this week, with colder weather bringing a risk of frost, ice and wintry showers.

"The risk of snow accumulating is largely confined to the northern half of the UK - mainly over higher ground in Scotland, Wales and northern England.

“By Thursday morning parts of northwest Scotland could see 2cm of snow accumulations to low levels, with 2-5cm above 200m and up to 10cm gathering over the highest routes, leading to some travel disruption.”

The Met Office said the cold spell is expected to last until the end of the week, but that the weekend would see brighter weather and even some sunshine.

It added that temperatures going into next week would be lower than the average annual temperature, which is usually around 7-9C (45-48F).

But deputy chief meteorologist, Dan Harris, said that despite the cold and unsettled weather - including freezing fog - all was not "doom and gloom".

"We're keeping an eye on other areas where there is potential for disruptive snow - in particular central and south-east England and the hills of northern England," he said.

"It'll stay cold into the weekend with rain, showers and hill snow continuing across many areas, along with overnight frosts.

"We could also see some stubborn areas of freezing fog develop more widely, which at this time of year can persist all day.

"However, it's not all doom and gloom, as there's likely to be an increased chance of dry, bright, and perhaps even sunny weather on offer as the weekend progresses."

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Snow and ice warnings as temperatures to plunge to shivering -10C