The south of England is expected to have a week-long spell of sunshine – as other parts of the country brace for snow and strong winds.
London is predicted to experience temperatures in double digits every day from Thursday, with a high of 12C (53F) forecast next Tuesday, the Met Office said.
Meanwhile, winds of more than 50mph may hit northern regions of Scotland over the weekend and into Tuesday and Wednesday.
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Some snow may fall on mountains next Wednesday evening and on higher ground on Thursday morning, mostly in the Highlands and areas above 250m.
Jonathan Vautrey, a meteorologist at the Met Office, said: “In the weekend and the start of next week, we will start to see weather fronts pushing in from the North West.
“Whilst high pressure is going to be situated to the southeast of the UK, the main area of low pressure will essentially be pushing towards Iceland.
“Trailing frontal systems from that low pressure in Iceland are going to brush past Northern Ireland and Scotland as we head into the start of next week.
“This will set up a North West to South East split across the UK.”
He added: “Areas of the South East, Essex, London, Hampshire and Kent have the greatest chance of holding on to the sunshine for the most consecutive numbers of days.
“At the moment, that high pressure is looking to pretty much stay across the South East all the way until the latter stages of next week when we will start to see low pressure returning more widely across the UK.
“Meanwhile, Northern Ireland and Scotland have the potential for cloudier, windier, damper conditions.”
