Snow is predicted to fall in northern England and Ireland and possibly in the Midlands and Wales, after around eight inches (19cm) came down across parts of Scotland.
© Gordon Jack / Scotimage.comTreacherous: The driving conditions became dangerous as more than six inches of snow hit parts of Scotland, forcing emergency services to attend a number of accidents, including a seven vehicle pileup on the Newmill and Canthill Road near Shotts
It is very much a 'Tale of Two Britains' today, as Scotland and England bask and shiver respectively in very different weather.
While England continues to enjoy warm spring conditions, Scotland is facing sub-zero temperatures and heavy snowfall.
England should not feel too smug - the icy weather is likely to forge south, bringing an end to the burst of unseasonal warmth that has lit up the country over the last week.
But this will not be enough to alleviate the much-publicised drought in England. A hose-pipe ban is still set to be introduced on Thursday.
After a week of record highs north of the border, where temperatures were hotter than Athens, Bermuda, Cairo, Lisbon and Rome, Scotland has been plunged back to winter.
The Met Office has issued an amber severe weather warning for snow in four areas of central and northern Scotland, advising the public to be prepared for transport disruption with ice developing on untreated roads.
More than six inches of snow fell in the space of four hours in parts of Scotland overnight as an Arctic weather front bore down on the UK.
Today it was revealed last month was the third warmest March on record and was only outshone by 1938 and 1957. It had an average temperature of 7.7C, compared with March 1938, which had an average of 8C. It was also the fifth driest and third sunniest March.
But now forecasters are warning Britons to get their jumpers and scarves back out with temperatures set to plummet to as low as -5C tonight as the big chill moves south.
Around 10cm of snow has carpeted most parts of northern Scotland overnight, with accumulations of 17cm recorded in Aviemore in the Highlands and temperatures of close to -2C in Glen Ogle.
© Getty imagesArctic blast: Sheep huddle together in a field near the Spittal of Glenshee, in Glenshee, Scotland, today, as the freezing weather front tracks south
Scotland's central belt was also hit by the wintry weather, which will gradually creep into northern England, parts of Wales and the Midlands in the coming 24 hours.
Scottish Transport Minister Keith Brown told BBC Radio Scotland: 'This kind of weather is much more normal for Scotland than the superb weather we have had over the previous days. So we have had, for example, 124 gritters out overnight.
'Because we've not had this kind of weather over previous weeks, it can catch people by surprise and what we're saying is people should listen to the media, take on board any information they've got about the likely length of time to make their journeys and take the appropriate precautions.'
Police said driving conditions are difficult and advised road users to take care and allow extra time for journeys.
According to the Traffic Scotland website, the snow gates were closed on the A93 at Braemar.
Other roads in the Grampian region were also disrupted, with snow gates closed at Cock Bridge to Tomintoul and the A941 Dufftown to Rhynie road shut. Tayside Police urged motorists to drive with the 'utmost care'.
The force dealt with a number of incidents, including a three-vehicle collision in 'whiteout conditions' near to Tullybaccart Farm in Blairgowrie, Perthshire.
Four people were taken to hospital after a car left the A90 at the St Ann's to Keithock junction in Brechin and came to rest in a ditch.
Aisling Creevy, a forecaster with MeteoGroup, said: 'A slow moving Arctic front has brought a wintry mix of weather to parts of Scotland overnight with snow, sleet and rain in northern and central areas.
'Snow and rain showers will continue in Scotland throughout the day and move into northern England before reaching the Midlands tomorrow morning.
'A raw north-easterly wind will also make it feel very cold with the wind-chill taking a two or three of degrees off the actual temperature.
'Tomorrow the UK will be noticeably colder and feeling quite raw and we could get widespread lows of around -5C in Scotland overnight.'
Temperatures in northern Scotland will range from 2 to 5C, MeteoGroup said, with England getting the brunt of the freezing weather tomorrow.
However, Ms Creevy said the cold snap will be short lived with temperatures recovering on Thursday.
London and the south east should escape the snow with temperatures of around 13C today before dropping to around 8C tomorrow, she added.
The weather is in stark contrast to March's mini-heatwave - the only years to have a warmer March in the past 100 years were 1938, 1948, 1957, 1990 and 1997.
MeteoGroup's senior forecaster Paul Mott said: 'The weather in March has been quite exceptional. There were a number of Scottish records that were broken and some of the highest temperatures ever recorded in March.'
The heavy snowfall in Scotland also highlights the serious drought faced by much of England.
Great swathes of southern and eastern England is being forced to prepare for a summer of water restrictions, including a hose pipe ban starting on Thursday, while water remains as plentiful as ever in much of the North.
The crisis has even prompted United Utilities to draw up ambitious plans to lay a £2.6 billion water pipe alongside the proposed HS2 high-speed rail line from London to Birmingham and beyond to bring water from the North to the parched South.
The idea was first proposed in the early 1970s, but it was thought to be too fraught with logistical problems.
Dr Barnaby Smith of the Centre for Ecology and Hydrology said: 'There are issues to consider, as water has a different chemical composition in the North and the South which can affect the ecosystem.
But following privatisation and devolution it is now more important than ever that we have a water instability plan for the whole country.'
Wrong scotland is cold England is sunny at least when this article was written. But it is the Daily Mail.