A five-day winter blizzard is heading towards the UK just in time for Christmas, new weather maps suggest, as the country recovers after being battered by Storm Darragh over the weekend.

Forecaster WXCharts shows snow covering most of Scotland and northern England from 6am on Friday, December 20, with the icy spell concentrated around Newcastle in the north east for much of Christmas week.

Meanwhile, southern regions including London and Plymouth will see relatively heavy rainfall of up to 3mm/hour, with downpours continuing into Saturday, December 21.

By 12pm on Saturday, Scotland is expected to record snow depths of around 20cm, especially around Fort William and the northern Highlands, and light snowfall will continue throughout the Midlands and around Bradford, Leeds and York.

White flurries are then forecast to continue along the north eastern coast, with Newcastle, Durham and Middlesbrough seeing an increase in settled snow on December 24 – with depths of up to 1.5cm.

Snowfall is also expected in parts of Wales by 6pm on Christmas Eve, especially in northern areas around Snowdonia.

The Welsh coast will also see high levels of rainfall on December 24 and temperatures dropping to around -2C.

While snowy conditions are expected to continue in northern parts of England until 12pm on Christmas Day, the wintry spell is not forecast to spread as far south as London and Southampton.

The week from December 23 will usher in low temperatures across the whole of the UK, however, with cooler parts of Scotland dropping to -7C and lows of -3C in the Midlands.

The South East, meanwhile, will still feel seasonably chilly, with the mercury hovering between 2C and 5C in the lead-up to December 25.

It comes after the whole of the UK begins the clean-up after Storm Darragh wreaked havoc on travel over the weekend – with millions warned to cancel their plans and stay indoors.

The Met Office has said windy weather is expected to noticeably die down by the mid-week but warned that low, single-digit temperatures are here to stay.

The BBC’s long-range forecast from December 23 to January 5 predicts windy and stormy conditions with some mild temperatures and potential disruption from low pressure systems moving across the country.

Met Office’s five day forecast

Today:

Cloudy and breezy weather in southern England and Wales with some rain showers. Early frost and fog giving way to chilly sunny spells.

Tonight:

Showers along the south coast and frost and fog in the north.

Tuesday:

Cloudy weather and some rain in southern regions. Frost and fog across Northern Ireland and Scotland and sunny spells elsewhere.

Outlook for Wednesday to Friday:

High pressure settling across the whole of the UK, bringing calmer and sunny weather. Last remnants of blustery showers in the south and patchy rain in the north, with frosts and fog expected overnight.