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The UK is experiencing very cold weather with snow and ice warnings in place in Scotland, Wales, Northern Ireland and parts of England.

Temperatures reached as low as -9.1 Celsius(C), 15.6 Fahrenheit (F) overnight this week in the Scottish Highlands with thermometers dropping to as low as -6C elsewhere.

Parts of the UK have already seen snow fall and weather forecasters say cold, icy temperatures are likely to last until at least early next week.

So why is this happening - and is it any colder than usual for December?

The reason for the colder conditions is that the direction of wind flow has changed from a warmer south-westerly direction that we had during the autumn to cold artic winds from a north-easterly direction.

Met Office, which is the UK's national weather service, says that data shows just how much warmer than usual September, October and November were.

The highest daily temperatures in some areas 2.5C above the average for the last 30 years.

Chief weather expert Steve Willington from the Met Office, said: "The cold air from the Arctic will also bring brighter conditions, with some dry, sunny spells, particularly away from the coast, and where winds are light, it could feel pleasant in the sunshine.

"Some patchy freezing fog is also likely."

Temperatures in the UK have been about average for the month so far - but temperatures are colder this week and will get even colder.

Data from the European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts shows that northern Europe - including the UK - is expected to be colder than usual across the course of next week.

The Met Office has different types of weather warnings to make sure that people stay safe when severe weather hits the UK.

This can include heavy rain, snow, wind, fog and ice.

The warnings have different colours depending on how bad - and potentially dangerous - the weather is. These are yellow, amber and red.

A yellow weather warning for snow and ice in place until midday on Friday for the east of England and northern and south-west Scotland.

A yellow warning for ice also applies to Wales, Northern Ireland and the west of England until 6pm on Thursday.

The big question...

At the moment, experts say the very cold conditions aren't expected to last until Christmas and temperatures are predicted to return to average for the month of December - including Christmas Day.

The Met Office says that a white Christmas is official if a single snow flake falls in the 24 hours during Christmas Day in a number of locations including the set of soap Coronation Street in Manchester, Buckingham Palace in London, Edinburgh Castle, and the Principality Stadium in Cardiff.