Wrap up for the big chill

After squelching through the soggy summer, wrap up - because we're about to be hit by the coldest winter in years.

That's the teeth-chattering prediction by forecasters who warn that a big chill could start as early as next week, when icy winds sweep in from the North.

It will be the beginning of a series of cold snaps into the New Year, according to Metcheck.com. The same organisation accurately predicted that this summer would be a washout.

Metcheck.com said it is too early to say if Britain will have a white Christmas. But it warned: 'It's time to ditch the wellies for woollies.'

After a succession of relatively mild winters, Metcheck.com is predicting at least four cold snaps. The first will begin next Monday, then we will be hit by one a month in November, December and January.

Next week could see bitterly cold winds in the South and snow in the North. Then there will be a cold snap between November 22 and 27, another between December 4 and 11 and yet another on January 22-25.

In November, temperatures will struggle to reach their average of around 54f (12c) in London and 46f (8c) in Glasgow. But the icy weather, will then follow, says Metcheck.com.

During the December and January chills, maximum temperatures in London will be 43-45f (6-7c) and in the North 39-41f (4-5c).

Andrew Bond, senior forecaster at Metcheck.com, surprised other weather experts back in March when he predicted a dreadful summer - but he was proved right.

He said yesterday: 'The UK has been relatively fortunate over the past few years, with mild or very mild winters. This year, we are expecting a return to a more traditional winter season, although a rerun of famous severe winters such as 1947 or 1963 is not expected.

'We are confident that this winter will see a higher than average frequency of northerly weather types, bringing not just colder weather, but a more frequent snowfall than we have experienced in recent years.'

The Met Office agreed that temperatures are likely to dip - with a cold snap next week - and that the South of England is likely to see a colder winter than normal.

' From next week, we will see northerly winds coming down and it looks like being considerably colder, with frost being a possibility,' said a spokesman.

'Over the winter season, it looks like the average maximum daily temperature for Southern England may be slightly below the seasonal average of 46 to 48f (8-9c), but in the North it may be slightly above the average of 43 to 45F (6-7c).' Since daily meteorological records began in Britain in the 17th century, the coldest winter was probably 1684, when the diarist John Evelyn took a coach to Lambeth along the frozen Thames.

In the modern era, the winter of 1947 was the snowiest and the winter of 1962-1963 the coldest.

In 1947, from January 22 to March 17, snow fell every day somewhere in Britain, with drifts up to 20ft cutting off farms and villages and blocking roads and railways.

Then a rapid thaw brought flooding, which caused more mayhem.

From Boxing Day 1962 to early March 1963, much of England was under snow, with temperatures struggling every day to get above freezing.

Villages were cut off, some for days. Roads and railways were blocked, and phone wires brought down.

Farmers could not reach their livestock and thousands of sheep, ponies and cattle starved to death.