Snow could hit parts of southern England - including Kent - suggests the Met Office which believes the current deep freeze will continue into next week.

Forecasters say an area of low pressure threatening southern areas could 'readily' turn rain into snow if warmer wet air coming up from the south west collides with the bitterly cold Arctic air currently gripping the country.

The UK is in the grip of a severe cold snap, nicknamed the Troll of Trondheim because of the weather's Scandinavian origins, which has blanketed northern Scotland with heavy snow and prompted a level three cold weather alert for most of England.

Some wintry showers and freezing fog are predicted for southern areas on Sunday night and into Monday morning - prompting a yellow warning for snow and ice - with National Highways having already confirmed it has 500 gritting vehicles on standby to keep motorways and major A-roads running as temperatures drop well below freeing and below average for the time of year.

But while the current weather warning remains in place until 9am Monday morning it is now widely expected that the frosty conditions are likely to continue into next week, with forecasters also now playing close attention to a band of low pressure that could drive more wintry weather towards southern parts of the country.

Met Office Deputy Chief Meteorologist, Jason Kelly, explained: “Through the weekend and into next week cold weather will continue, with an ongoing chance of wintry showers, mainly for coasts, and freezing fog patches inland.

"An area of low pressure may then threaten southern and southwestern parts of the UK through mid-week. Confidence in the exact track of this system is low, but should it push precipitation into the UK, then this would readily turn to snow, with a lower chance of freezing rain. How far north the milder air gets is also open to a lot of uncertainty, but for now, many central and northern areas are likely to remain in the Arctic airmass."

Temperatures plummeted on Thursday night to -9C in Benson, South Oxfordshire while the prolonged cold is also likely to trigger the distribution of thousands of cold weather payments to cash-strapped households.

Homes receiving certain types of means-tested benefits are entitled to an extra £25 in cash to help them pay to heat their homes if the mercury remains at zero degrees or below for seven consecutive days.

Alongside fears that hundreds of thousands of people, struggling with sky-high energy bills, will struggle to keep the heating on if the bitterly cold temperatures continue well into the month, the National Grid is also reportedly watching capacity closely in the event that it needs to evoke its Flexibility Service, which rewards people for using less energy during times of high demand.