Britain to be frozen by FRIDAY: UK will shiver from an Arctic blast with four inches of snow and minus 10C temperatures as a deep freeze grips Europe 

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Britain is set to shiver from an Arctic blast with four inches of snow and temperatures as low as minus 10C. 

Plunging temperatures have been blamed for dozens of deaths across Europe as winter takes its toll.

And the cold snap is set to make its way to Britain with single digit temperatures and frosts forecast before snow.

Turkish anti riot police officers patrol around the Blue mosque (Sultan Ahmet) during snowfall in Istanbul

Frozen bridges, small fishing boats and stones on the coast are seen near the Black sea town of Varna, some 279 miles east of the Bulgarian capital Sofia

Snow falls in Sammichele di Bari, near Bari in the Puglia region in the south of Italy as winter weather hits the continent

Ice floes float in the water of River Danube at the Szabadsag (Freedom) Bridge in Budapest, Hungary 

Children play on a frozen river Bosnia in Zenica, Bosnia on Sunday. Extremely cold weather continued for a fourth day in a row in most of Eastern Europe

A Met Office forecaster said: 'Cold air will move across the UK from the north towards the weekend when we will be in a Polar maritime airmass.

'It will feel bitter in strong northerly winds with gales possible around the coasts, combined with high tides there could be very large waves to contend with.

'From Friday we could see snow in many places, showers are more likely to be snow than rain.

'Next weekend we could be into minus double figures overnight, so a big change in the weather on the way and possibly the coldest spell of winter so far.'

Before the snow falls, the Met Office predicts rain and wind. 

It said: 'Monday will be wet and windy, particularly in Scotland, where gales are likely. Staying windy on Tuesday and Wednesday, although a little less wet. Then turning colder later on Wednesday.

'Thursday sees rain in the south clearing to a mixture of sunshine and showers across the country.

'These showers will turn increasingly wintry, even to lower levels in the north, where they will be most frequent.

'It'll be windy with coastal gales, and turning colder with frosts likely overnight.

'Conditions are expected to stay unsettled through the weekend, with areas of cloud and rain pushing west to east across the country, interspersed with brighter, showery spells. It will stay windy, with a risk of gales in the north-west.'

Map showing a cold front move across Europe. The weather has been blamed for dozens of deaths across the continent

Ducks and ducklings swim in the frozen river Bosna during heavy winter in Zenica

Airport workers try to clean snow on and around a Turkish Airlines aircraft at Ataturk International Airport in Istanbul

Families enjoy tobogganing in the Hasenheide park in Berlin as snow continues to fall across Europe

Blizzards and dangerously low temperatures persisted in parts of Europe on Sunday, prompting Pope Francis to draw attention to the homeless suffering in freezing weather. 

In Serbia, aid workers scrambled to help hundreds of migrants sleeping rough in parks and makeshift shelters.

The extreme winter weather that has gripped Europe in the past days has caused more than a dozen deaths, left villages cut off, caused power and water outages, frozen rivers and lakes, grounded flights and led to road accidents. 

Serbia's authorities on Sunday banned river traffic on its stretch of the Danube - one of Europe's main rivers - because of ice and strong wind.

Two men died of cold in Poland on Saturday, bringing the nation's death toll from winter weather to 55 since November 1, authorities said Sunday. 

Temperatures dropped to minus 30 degrees Celsius (minus 22 Fahrenheit) in the mountains of southern Poland.

In Italy, eight deaths were blamed on the cold, including a man who died in the basement of an unused building in Milan, and another one on a street flanking Florence's Arno River. 

Pope Francis asked God to 'warm our hearts so we'll help' the homeless.

Frozen bridges, small fishing boats and stones on the coast are seen near the Black sea town of Varna, Bulgaria

Strollers walk in a snowy landscape near the small Bavarian village of Eichenau, southern Germany

Before, the snow falls, the Met Office predicts rain and wind. It said: 'Monday will be wet and windy, particularly in Scotland, where gales are likely.'

Polar bear Wolodja takes a nap on some snow which has fallen in its enclosure in the Berlin Tierpark zoo 

In Belgrade, the capital of Serbia, several hundred men, mostly from Afghanistan and Pakistan, remained in an abandoned customs warehouse by the city's bus station, where aid organizations distributed heaters, blankets, clothes and food in an attempt to keep them warm.

'We are all working together to help these people,' said Mirjana Milenkovski, a spokeswoman for the U.N. refugee agency.

While most of the several thousand migrants in Serbia have stayed in the Balkan country's asylum centers, hundreds have refused to do so, looking for ways to move on toward western Europe.

In neighboring Bulgaria, police said two men from Iraq and a Somali woman died from cold in the mountains near Turkey as they tried to make their way toward Europe. Many in the Belgrade warehouse were sick after few days in extreme cold, aid workers said.

'The next few days are critical, and for sure the health condition of these people is worsening,' said Stephane Moissaing, MSF Head of Mission in Serbia.

A man pushes his bicycle during snowfall in Sammichele di Bari, near Bari in the Puglia region in the south of Italy

Snow covers the archaeological excavations site in Ancient Corinth, Greece as the cold front moves across the continent

A family enjoys a sledge ride after heavy snowfall in Berlin, Germany as they pull each other on sledges

A man walks in a street of Sammichele di Bari during snowfall near Bari in the Puglia region in the south of Italy

A picture taken early on January 8, 2017 shows snowfalls in Sammichele di Bari, near Bari in the Puglia region in the south of Italy

Snow falls on a courtyard and on houses in Sammichele di Bari, near Bari in the Puglia region in the south of Italy

German federal police said Sunday they picked up 19 migrants - including five children - at a highway stop in Bavaria who were suffering from hypothermia after their driver disappeared and left them on the back of an unheated a truck for hours in the freezing cold.

Elsewhere, emergency measures were declared in several municipalities in Serbia's south and southwest. Dozens of villages in Serbia's remote Pestar region were sealed off by heavy snow, prompting the evacuation of some 100 people by emergency crews. Authorities said 70 kilometers of water pipes there were frozen.

Numerous villages in northern Bulgaria also were left without electricity and water. Power outages were also reported throughout the region.

Polar temperatures of between minus 15 and minus 26 degrees Celsius (5 and minus 15 Fahrenheit) saw ice forming on the Adriatic sea and the Danube, while countless smaller rivers, lakes and ponds froze.

Montenegro's port of Bar in southern Adriatic closed down on Saturday, while sea traffic was suspended for days in neighboring Croatia.

People enjoy a snowy day in Istanbul, Turkey by making snowmen

Icicles hang from a roof of a house in Oberstdorf, southern Germany, as winter sets in across the continent

Police in Bulgaria said a passenger train was derailed Sunday after it hit a pile of snow in the central part of the country. Snow fell on Istanbul, Turkey, for the third straight day, and Turkish Airlines grounded hundreds of flights in and out of the city's two airports.

A dozen major roads remained closed in Romania due to heavy snow and some ferry services between Romania and Bulgaria across the Danube were canceled. Authorities said schools would be closed Monday and Tuesday in many areas, including in the capital, Bucharest.

Four Portuguese nationals were killed when a bus skidded on an icy road in eastern France early Sunday. The road is notorious for fatal accidents.

The sandstone ruins of Ravensworth Castle rises out if the low lying mist in North Yorkshire this morning

The sandstone ruins of Ravensworth Castle rises out if the low lying mist in North Yorkshire this morning

Black ice across northern and western Germany has caused countless accidents and injuries - firefighters in the city of Hamburg said Sunday they were called to weather-related accidents 415 times during the weekend.

Near Hannover, one person died in a car accident when his car skidded against a tree on an icy road, German news agency dpa reported. City authorities shut down the public transportation system and across the country, people were asked to wait out the severe weather conditions at home.

For hundreds of Muscovites, however, the fact that the temperature had plunged to minus-27 Celsius (minus 17 Fahrenheit) was no reason to avoid going for a group bicycle ride. About 500 cyclists, many equipped with fur hats and other nonstandard gear, held a ride of about five miles along the Moscow River on Sunday as the capital shivered through a fierce cold snap.

A bird flies across the rooftops of Richmond, North Yorkshire as fog and mist cloak the Vale of York

The sandstone ruins of Ravensworth Castle glows in the morning sunlight as it rises from the low lying mist in North Yorkshire

The sandstone ruins of Ravensworth Castle glows in the morning sunlight as it rises from the low lying mist in North Yorkshire

Wild weather rocks the US: Three dead as South and Northeast begin clean up from brutal winter storm 

As the East Coast is recovering from the pounding snow and sleet from Saturday that killed three and caused hundreds of accidents on the roads, the West Coast is being pummeled by heavy rain that is expected to cause flooding and landslides. 

The Weather Channel reported at least three deaths in Oregon, Maine and Kentucky that were blamed on the weather over the weekend, as thousands of people lost power due tot he blizzard-like conditions from Virginia to parts of the Northeast.  

Freezing cold temperatures are expected once again across much of the eastern U.S. on Sunday, as highs are expected to be 15 to 30 degrees below average from portions of the Southeast to the Appalachians and Mid-Atlantic, according to The National Weather Service (NWS). 

On Saturday, more than seven and a half inches of snow fell at JFK airport, causing numerous flight delays. 

The NWS said in New Jersey, roughly five and a half inches of snow fell at Newark Airport, while the Jersey Shore got the most snow in the state, with eight and a half inches in Barnegat. In Connecticut, seven inches fell in Old Saybrook. 

Authorities in Connecticut were forced to close Interstate 91 in both directions after a 30-car pileup clogged traffic, according to NBC Connecticut. No serious injuries were reported.

In Portland, Oregon, two basketball games fell victim to approaching severe winter weather. The NBA game between the Trail Blazers and the Detroit Pistons, scheduled for Saturday night, was postponed and moved to Sunday. No. 5 Gonzaga's scheduled men's basketball game at Portland also was postponed, although no makeup date was announced.

Authorities in Connecticut were forced to shut down Interstate 91 in both directions after a 30-car pileup clogged traffic in Middletown (above) on Saturday

The mayor of Middletown said that fuel tanks from at least two of the trucks ruptured, spilling diesel fuel onto the highway

More than 50 flights were canceled at New York's John F Kennedy International Airport on Saturday. An American Airlines jet is seen above at JFK

A very white house! The White House with a fresh dusting of snow in Washington, DC, on Saturday