The snow is expected to impede Scottish commuters next week in stunning contrast to the warmest New Year’s Eve record achieved yesterday.

Saturday’s temperatures will be over 10C all over the UK, with some peaks at 15C in the South.

The highly mild spell is driven by a flow of warm, moist air from the Canary Islands, further south in the Atlantic, and brings some clouds and outbreaks of rain to the UK.

A Met Office chief forecaster, Steve Ramsdale, said: “The current weather pattern is bringing extremely mild conditions to the UK – perhaps reaching around 16.0°C in some parts.

“We also expect some very mild overnight temperatures as well with minimum temperature records being broken in places.”

However, wintery weather is expected next week. The Met Office forecasts ingress of colder air from Tuesday, potentially bringing wintry showers and frosts.

John Gresiak, a senior forecaster, after a very mild start to the new year, colder air will be spreading across the UK from later in the weekend through about the middle of next week. There will be a few spells of rain across southern areas during this time, but nothing overly heavy.

To the North, heavy snow will be possible in parts of Scotland from around midday Sunday into Monday. This could cause major disruptions to travel, especially in areas north of a Glasgow to Aberdeen line.

Mr Gresiak predicts that some snow showers will linger in mainly northern and western parts of Scotland through Tuesday and Tuesday night.