Temperatures look set to plummet over the next few weeks, because of a polar weather event similar to that which unleashed he &apos;Beast from the East&apos; earlier this year, the Met Office has said.
Last February a Sudden Stratospheric Warming (SSW) - a relatively rare polar vortex that disrupts the jet stream and &apos;locks in&apos; freezing temperatures - plunged Devon and Cornwall into a big freeze that lasted for days.
Now, the Met Office has said there is a &apos;very high likelihood&apos; we will see another SSW over the next few days, which is turn likely to bring sub zero temperatures to the UK.
Jeff Knight, manager of modelling climate variability for the Met Office, told The Mirror: "There is a very high likelihood of a ‘Sudden Stratospheric Warming’ around the end of the year, increasing the chances of colder-than-average weather in January and the rest of winter.
"We will keep looking at forecasts to know exactly when any potential cold, snowy spells will occur."
Prior to the &apos;Beast from the East&apos; in February and March this year, the last time the UK was hit by a SSW polar vortex was in 2014. SSW events also triggered -16.1C lows in the Scottish ​ Highlands​ during November 2010 - and started the month-long Big Freeze in December 2010.
Last year&apos;s SSW was caused by a huge rise in air temperature in an area around 18 miles (30 km) above the North Pole, said Met Office spokesman Oli Claydon.
On New Year&apos;s Day there is the chance of some rain across parts of the northwest, but there will also be a good deal of dry weather around, especially in the south. However, there may be some fog lingering throughout the day. It will be windy in the north, and generally mild. This pattern is then likely to predominate during the first week of January. Any bouts of wet and windy weather are most likely to be confined to the north, with possibly some hill snow. These unsettled conditions could also spread further south at times. It will be mild for many at first, with temperatures trending slowly downwards in the north and east, and perhaps central parts, with an increasing risk of frost.
The second week of January will probably become unsettled in most areas, giving heavy rain and gales at times, especially in the north, where severe gales are possible. Hill snow is likely, as well as snow to lower levels at times in the north. By mid-month there is a greater chance of colder weather, with an increasing likelihood of frost, fog and snow, and these conditions will probably continue for the rest of the period. Despite the potential change to colder weather during mid-January, some milder, wet and windy interludes remain possible throughout the period.