Snow could fall tonight

Snow is forecast to fall on London tonight as arctic conditions sweep in from the North Pole.

Up to two inches of snow are expected in the second big freeze of 2003 with temperatures falling more than 20 degrees in a week.

PA WeatherCentre spokesman Paul Knightley said: "The depression that is heading into the country from the Arctic could well leave snow in the west of the country and possibly the western parts of London-tonight. Snow is most likely to fall between tonight and tomorrow morning and temperatures could fall as low as minus 5C. It's going to be pretty horrible, and the fact that temperatures have been so high recently will make it feel even worse."

Gusting winds, which arrived yesterday-will continue, making it seem even colder. Yesterday a 32-year-old man died in Barnet when freak winds blew a tree over onto his Vauxhall convertible, while bad weather elsewhere saw three men die at sea.

Fisherman Alistair Watson, 28, died after he was knocked overboard 40 miles off the Butt of Lewis, while two Argentinian crew members died when a wave knocked them over as they secured equipment on their tanker's deck 140 miles off the west coast of Ireland. A third crew member lost his leg in the accident.

Tonight's predicted snow comes at the end of a month of weather extremes in which London has basked in record-breaking temperatures, frozen under a thick carpet of snow and shivered in driving rain.

On Monday Northolt in west London recorded temperatures of 16C and Aberdeenshire was hotter than the Costa del Sol, topping 17C. Many parts of the South-East experienced their warmest January on record thanks to the balmy winds coming in from the Azores.

Mr Knightley said: "It has been a particularly strange January, and it is unusual for temperatures to fluctuate quite so much.

"But this new cold snap won't last long - it'll be very cold tomorrow and on Friday but by the weekend it should be a lot milder."