Scotland weather: Snow forecast issued by the Met Office ahead of New Year's Day

The Met Office’s long-range forecast for the UK covering the period of Friday, January 2 to Sunday, January 11, says: “Cold northerly winds, initially across Scotland are now expected to become dominant across the whole UK in the first week of January.

“These will bring wintry showers (often of snow) to many coastlines (and areas just inland of these) that are exposed to onshore winds.

“Subtle day-to-day changes in wind direction from northeast to northwest will change the places most exposed to the showers, but many inland locations across central and southern areas will remain mostly dry but cold.

“There are likely to be some more coherent bands of rain, sleet and snow working south, and these may bring a risk of more prolonged wintry precipitation affecting some inland areas.

“Towards the second half of this period, slightly milder conditions will attempt to move in from the west.”

While the Met Office is forecasting some "wintry hazards" for the beginning of the new year, no official weather warnings have been issued for the start of January as of yet.

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Moving into mid-January, the Met Office is forecasting temperatures will return closer to their average for this time of year.

They said: “Whilst confidence in details is low, by the start of this period the transition back to westerly winds bringing Atlantic weather systems into the UK is expected to be complete, with temperatures most likely recovering to around average.”