Arctic air brings UK's coldest night of autumn so far with frost and near-freezing temperatures arriving overnight

From the Newshound archive · first published 8 October 2026.

Temperatures across the UK are expected to drop to within one or two degrees of freezing by Thursday morning, making this the most frigid night of autumn to date after more than 115 consecutive days above 20C. Met Office meteorologist Claire Nasir warned that urban overnight lows would sit at 5-6C, with the countryside turning colder. A southward shift in the jet stream is driving Arctic air into Britain, ending the record-warm spell that characterised September. Scotland's Highlands may see early snowfall on Saturday, with elevated terrain in Ross, Cromarty and Sutherland facing a risk of wintry showers.

The cold front will also bring 20-30mm of rain to southern and eastern England, where nearly three-quarters of the country remains in drought.

London alone faces a drop of almost 10C compared to earlier this week, falling from highs of 23C to around 15C.

September ranked as the UK's joint-fourth warmest on record, peaking at 28.1C on 29 September — matching figures set in 1949 and 2016.