DESPITE a brief appearance of the sun in recent days, the weather is set to take a familiar turn for the worse this weekend.Wintry showers are predicted and temperatures are due to drop as another cold snap approaches.

DESPITE a brief appearance of the sun in recent days, the weather is set to take a familiar turn for the worse this weekend.

Wintry showers are predicted and temperatures are due to drop as another cold snap approaches.

Evening Star weather expert, Ken Blowers, said: “A cold northerly air stream from the arctic will see the gauge drop 10 degrees Fahrenheit before the weekend. Hail, sleet and snow could fall in the area, with the biggest risk of showers on Sunday.

If there is snow, it will be less than an inch and it's unlikely to settle because temperatures will still be high enough to melt it.”

An unpredictable April follows a wet March, when rainfall was twice the average and umbrellas were required for 18 days of the month.

It's not all doom and gloom though as Mr Blowers predicts a great improvement going into next week, with temperatures picking up and clear skies returning.

However anyone hoping for a scorcher of a holiday season will be disappointed to hear that we're set for a “typical British summer”, according to Met Office forecasters.

The Met Office's long range forecast for summer brought with it mixed results for the season ahead.

Summer temperatures across the UK are more likely to be warmer than average and rainfall is likely to be near or above average for the three months of summer, the forecasters found.

The risk of exceptional rainfall on the same scale as the summer of last year, which left large parts of the country deluged with flood waters, was “a very low probability”.