The latest blast of freezing temperatures and snow showers will give way to much milder weather this week, forecasters said.

Britain’s break from the sub-zero conditions will be a welcome respite, with the mercury even reaching as high as 13 degrees Celsius by tomorrow. The milder air is due to arrive by the middle of the week after snow showers across the Pennines and Scotland clear.

Tom Tobler, forecaster with PA’s weather division MeteoGroup, said yesterday it would be a bit warmer but wet and windy.

Temperatures across the country are expected to then dip into low single figures today before the much milder conditions arriving tomorrow.

Mr Tobler said: “There will be a repeat performance of heavy rain coming in from the west, with snow over northern areas and then that’s bringing milder air so tomorrow could reach 12-13 degrees Celsius across a fair bit of England. It will stay cold in the north but it will be milder than it has been.”

The mercury will top 13 degrees Celsius in the South West tomorrow, with even parts of northern England reaching double figures. It will be a similar story on Thursday.

On Sunday, heavy snow showers fell across Scotland where temperatures dropped as low as minus 10 degrees Celsius causing a heavy frost.

Freezing weather also caused treacherous conditions further south.

Cambridgeshire Police said on Sunday it had reports of 30 road accidents between 6 a.m. and 10.30 a.m. – around five times more than normal. Inspector Jamie Rice of Cambridgeshire Police said: “Officers have... been dealing with an extraordinarily high number of road traffic collisions, which has tested the resource levels of all emergency services to the limit.”