The UK will have dull and drizzly weather over the coming days, with a “wet and rather windy” New Year’s Eve on the horizon, the Met Office has said.

Outbreaks of patchy rain in north and west Scotland are expected on Friday, although showers are not expected to be heavy, according to the forecaster.

Mild temperatures and conditions similar to those on Boxing Day are predicted, with cloud and “patchy drizzle” in areas with thick cloud, including western Wales and south-west England, the weather service said.

North-east England will enjoy the brightest weather of the day, with some sunshine in Aberdeenshire in the afternoon and temperatures of about 10C to 12C across the country.

Met Office meteorologist Simon Partridge said: “Basically, northeast seems to be the place to be for the next couple of days if you want to see some brighter and maybe even some blue sky at times, whereas elsewhere is mainly grey.”

Over the weekend it will become “a little bit windier and a little bit wetter” across Scotland, with showers in northern Scotland as a result of low pressure, he said.

Further south it will be “pretty cloudy” with some breaks in the cloud on Sunday because of slightly stronger winds, Mr Partridge added.

There is potential for a little bit of possibly disruptive weather on New Year's Eve

Temperatures at the weekend may be “slightly fresher” with highs of about 9C to 11C expected, compared with 11C to 13C earlier in the week.

“It’s still fairly mild for the time of year, staying mild overnight so unlikely to see much in the way of frost over the next few days,” he added.

The forecast for next week includes “quite wet and quite windy” weather for those celebrating Hogmanay in Scotland, with the potential for snow on both high and low ground.

Mr Partridge continued: “As we head towards New Year, particularly for New Year’s Eve, it looks like there could be some wet and rather windy weather, particularly across Scotland, which is not ideal, considering that’s the place that really goes to town for New Year’s Eve.

“So there is potential for a little bit of possibly disruptive weather on New Year’s Eve, and the most likely place to see the most disruptive weather is, unfortunately, Scotland.”