Britons will have to wait until July for warmer weather because of cold winds blowing in from the Arctic, the Met Office has said.
The UK has been experiencing temperatures three to five degrees below the season average over the past week, forecasters said.
This is because a mid-Atlantic jet stream – a fast-moving wind in the atmosphere – is guiding wind from the north to the south over the UK resulting in lower temperatures.
However, according to meteorologists, there is no sign of better weather until the end of June.
Met Office meteorologist Simon Partridge said: “It looks as if temperatures will stay near or slightly below average for the majority of the rest of June.
“Over the next couple of nights we’re actually expecting to see a little bit of frost in a few places.
“This will mainly be across Scotland and possibly into northern England and Northern Ireland where temperatures could get down to around freezing.”
But Mr Partridge clarified that such patterns are “not unusual”.
He said: “On average we get an air frost – which is when the temperatures reach zero – every two to three Junes. So it’s not that unusual. It’s just not the norm for June to be this cool.”
Towards the weekend, low pressure will lead to even worse weather in parts of northern England.
Mr Partridge said: “There will be an area of low pressure sat over the northern part of the UK, which will unfortunately bring more unsettled weather to the UK.
“From Thursday onwards and through the weekend, we’ll see showers circulating around the UK.
“However, temperatures will improve because that low pressure will cut off the supply of cold air across the UK, and as a result, we’ll see the source of air coming from the west causing night-time temperatures to pick up a little.
“In the daytime we’ll still be staying a degree or so below average, but the big difference is it will mean that overnight temperatures will pick up so our nights won’t be as cold.”
Looking ahead to July, Mr Partridge said that there was “no strong signal” of any particular weather pattern.
He said: “The models are following the climatological norm, which indicates that temperatures are where they should be or slightly above average.
“So there is a hint of things turning slightly warmer as we move into the beginning of July, and it does look as if some spells of drier weather will become a bit more likely.”
