UK weather: Exact date temperatures to plunge below freezing as autumn chill returns

maps have pinpointed the exact date a brisk autumn chill will return to the UK, with the balmy heat of the last week expected to give way to sub-zero lows.

The mercury has unexpectedly surged over the last few days, with mid-October highs reaching an unusual 22C, leaving Britons living in the south feeling uncomfortably warm for the time of year. With the added for rain from the , humidity has picked up in kind, reaching beyond 70 percent.

The outlook will change in just over a week, when countrywide temperatures will return to the average for the time of year, around 6C cooler than today. Some areas will see the mercury dip by nearly double that, according to the latest maps from WXCharts.

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Charts from the service, which uses data from MetDesk, predict that, by October 26, temperatures will have dropped by 11C in . The maps show that this time next week will be especially brisk on the west coast of the Highlands, where the mercury will stick at 0C for most of the day.

The highest daytime temperatures will reach just 4C on the day, and while they seem extreme, the chill is expected to extend throughout the country. The mercury will drop to the low single figures elsewhere, with highs of 7C on the day likely to pursue for the remainder of the month and into November.

The Met Office long-range forecast agrees that colder than usual conditions could be on the horizon, with the "initially above average" temperatures trending downwards towards the end of October. The forecast for October 21 to 30 states: "Through next week, an oscillating pattern between occasional spells of rain or showers, most frequent in the northwest, and longer drier interludes in-between, this most prevalent in the south and east, is likely."

"It may be rather windy at times too, again especially in northern and western areas. Towards late October there are signs that, whilst northwestern areas may continue to see some rain at times, high pressure may become increasingly influential across the UK, potentially bringing more widely settled and drier conditions for longer periods, with an increasing chance of overnight frost and fog. Temperatures will initially be above average in many areas, but potentially trending towards colder than average later in the month."