After a day on beach, a blast of Arctic air will force temperatures down by 17c this weekend

After a short spell of balmy weather which peaked at 17c (62f) yesterday, temperatures are set to plunge below freezing by tomorrow night.

The dramatic fall of around 17c in 48 hours will bring snow, frost and ice over most of the country.

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Forecasters say big swings in temperatures are a feature of the British spring.

But that will not be much comfort to families planning on staying in the UK for school Easter Holidays.

"It's not unusual to go from sunny, warm weather to snow showers in early April," said the Met Office's Helen Chivers.

"It can be extremely variable at this time of year.

"The sun has just crossed the equator and so the days are beginning to warm up. But we've not had a run of warm days yet and you can get these quite dramatic swings. People will certainly notice the difference over the next few days."

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The contrast with this time last year could not be greater. Then, England enjoyed its warmest April on record.

There was a brief reminder of those sunny spring days yesterday, when the temperature reached 17c in parts of the South.

But as the day passed, a blast of Arctic air began to descend across Britain, bringing a belt of snow, sleet and freezing rain.

By this morning, the cold front will have reached the South Coast and temperatures will start to fall, said Mrs Chivers.

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Temperatures in the South will be around 8c (46f ) to 10c (50f) - more like the average for this time of year. In the North and Scotland, it will be around 3c (37f) to 6c (42f).

At Aintree today, the Grand National will be run amid rain and sunny spells, with temperatures around 8c.

Tonight will bring a frost across much of the North of England and Scotland, and by tomorrow morning, a dusting of snow is forecast for most of the UK.

Freezing temperatures will return tomorrow night, bringing a sharp frost to most of the country.

There will be no respite on Monday, when freezing temperatures will return, followed by more wintry showers.

"Temperatures will be up to normal on Tuesday and we'll have sunny spells and showers in England, and maybe more snow in Scotland," said Mrs Chivers.

The cold snap comes a year after England had the warmest April since records began in 1659.

Average temperatures for day and night were 11.2c (52.1f) - beating the previous record of 10.6c (51.08f) set in 1865.

Met Office experts are forecasting a typical British summer of rain and sunny spells.

There will be a warmer and wetter June to August than the average for 1971 to 2000.

The hottest year in recent history was 1998, when average temperatures reached 14.5c (58.1f).

That year was exceptionally warm because of the strong El Nimo - the abnormal warming of surface waters in the eastern tropical Pacific.