Scotland is set for a 1,500-mile wide ‘Arctic assault’ in the days and weeks ahead, according to the Met Office.

The weather forecasting service has predicted that we could experience colder temperatures than Scandinavia.

Temperature levels are expected to drop as low as -5 degrees making parts of the UK colder than countries such as Finland ahead of Valentine’s Day.

Snow is expected to fall from as early as Tuesday night, with the Met Office predicting gales across the North of the UK with "clear intervals and wintry showers, bringing snowfall and ice in places".

The Arctic temperatures mean that Scotland will be colder than Finland at -5C and Helsinki at -3C.

A second chill is also expected on Valentine's Day next Monday.

And as we look further into the month, we can expect on at least three other occasions later in February and in early March that snow and below-average temperatures will appear.

These freezing temperatures could last until as late as March 6.

Former BBC and Met Office forecaster John Hammond of weathertrending predicted that: “A plunge of Arctic air looks set to sweep down across the UK later in the week, which may well see hard frost and some snow.

“Temperatures ahead are expected to average out rather lower than through much of winter, with more frequent incursions of Arctic air.

“A wetter and chillier mix looks likely as we head into March. Late snow is a possibility.”

Met Office February forecast 

The Met Office’s forecast for February 11 to February 20 reads: "Rainfall will be limited at first with a risk of some wintry showers in the north and east, with an increasing chance of rain in western and northwestern areas later."

The Met Office adds temperatures could be “colder” than average.

The worst of the weather is anticipated to hit at the back end of this week and leading into next with mid-February expected to be particularly cold.