Snow coated Cheltenham racecourse on Wednesday morning, three days after the area experienced sunny weather with highs of 18C.
Parts of the UK were warmer than Barcelona and the Costa del Sol as recently as Sunday, but yellow weather warnings for ice have now been issued in the north.
Oli Claydon, a spokesperson for the Met Office, said: “Some showers came through with lower overnight temperatures last night, meaning it comes through as snow.
“We’re expecting to see the same sort of regime over the next few days with showers continuing in the north-east and Scotland.
“There’s also a front that moves through on Friday that could bring snow over widespread areas of Scotland and we might see some wintry showers over the highest parts of Ireland.”
The phenomenon is known as a fool’s spring, a period of warm weather quickly followed by a cold snap, which often occurs in March or April.
Claydon said, however, that there should be a mostly “fine and dry picture” across the UK over the weekend.
A yellow warning has been issued covering parts of Yorkshire and Northumberland between 3am and 9am on Thursday. Forecasters expect wintry showers that may cause ice to develop, potentially causing some transport disruption.
The clerk of the Cheltenham course, Jon Pullin, told ITV Racing on Wednesday: “It was very precautionary last night, as we were forecast a slight frost.
“It did dip down briefly to a minus two temperature, so we took some precautions on the take-offs and landings, just to make sure we’d be comfortable this morning.”
Temperatures were expected to rise to 7C by the time racing began, but overnight chills are expected to continue for the rest of the festival.
“Thursday to Friday is looking quite cold again now, so we’ll see where we go, but it should be dry from here on in,” Pullin said.
Birmingham city centre also had snow on Wednesday morning, and the Met Office suggested areas of Cumbria and Yorkshire might also have light snow and hail.
The forecaster expects the rest of the week to be chilly with some overnight frost and icy patches on Wednesday night.
