Met Office meteorologist Zoe Hutin said: “Certainly a cold night to come, especially for those beneath clear skies in the east and the north and in rural spots as well.”
Cloud coverage is keeping the temperatures from falling as low but it will still be chilly, Ms Hutin said.
Saturday is forecast to be cold too, and Ms Hutin said: “We’ve still got tonight to come, and tomorrow night could also be chilly as well.
“Temperatures for tomorrow night, it will be mainly eastern parts that see temperatures dropping widely below freezing, so East Anglia, the north-east of England, northern and eastern Scotland as well.
“So another chilly night to come on Saturday, but then as we go into Sunday and into Monday, then we can start to expect temperatures to recover somewhat.
“I won’t rule out the risk of seeing something around or just below freezing again on Sunday night into Monday, but it won’t be quite so dramatic as the temperatures that we’re going to experience as we go overnight tonight.”
Looking ahead to next week, she said: “We’re saying it’s getting milder but by no stretch does that mean (temperatures) are going to be above average – it just will feel comparatively much more pleasant than it is at the moment.”
The UK has experienced a “particularly long cold spell”, she said, adding: “It has been getting progressively colder each night this week, whereas looking at previous years, we’ve had maybe two or three days where things have been particularly cold.”
