The UK is set for a drop in temperatures and possible snowfall in the far north of Scotland, after warm days of sunshine during the past week.

There were some snow showers on the east coast early on Monday but forecasters expect these will mostly turn into rain.

Met Office spokesman Oli Claydon, who said the rest of the UK would see cloudy conditions and temperatures in the high single figures at the start of the week, added: “There will still be some showers on the east coast through today but the freezing level has gone up in altitude quite considerably, so they will be falling as rain.

“There has been a little bit of snow this morning in the early hours but we are now really into rain showers along the east coast rather than snow – except for the much higher ground in the far north of Scotland.”

Most areas will have cloudy conditions on Monday and it could feel quite breezy and chilly over northern Scotland and eastern, southern and central England.

The Met Office said it will be “on the chilly side for many” as the UK moves into April.

Mr Claydon said: “It is not unusual to see cooler spells and wintry showers at this time of year.”

The March average temperature of the UK is 8.8C “so we are only just below the average,” he noted.

Mr Claydon said: “We were well into the teens in temperatures last week which you would probably classify as unseasonably warm.”

Temperatures are set to rise by the weekend in many places, according to Mr Claydon, who said they could reach 12C in Nottingham and 13C in London on Saturday.