WINTER looks set to return with a vengeance at the end of the week as the milder temperatures enjoyed over the Christmas and New Year period are set to plunge.
A mostly dry, but cloudy weekend will see temperatures remain mild at around 12C (52F) and falling overnight to around 5C (41F).
Light showers are forecast for Monday and it will remain mild before a change in the weather moves in overnight into Tuesday morning.
More prolonged periods of rain are forecast for Tuesday across most parts of the county.
Overnight temperatures on Tuesday could drop below freezing with a touch of ground frost on Wednesday morning.
Clear skies will keep daytime temperatures down to around 7C (45F) with more freezing conditions expected overnight into Thursday.
Citizen weather expert Ian Thomas says there could be some more wintry weather on the way.
"When this band of light rain and mild weather moves away in mid-week, colder air behind it will move in and temperatures will start to fall," he said.
"It is nothing to worry about at the moment but there could be something more sinister coming our way at the end of the month and into February.
"Longer term forecasters at the Met Office are saying we are in for a wintry spell of weather, but the details are as yet unclear of how severe it will be.
"But it will be in complete contrast to the mild, wet weather experienced in December.
"Fifty years ago in 1962/63 we were under around 18 inches of snow in Gloucestershire in one of the heaviest periods of snowfall on record."
A mostly dry, but cloudy weekend will see temperatures remain mild at around 12C (52F) and falling overnight to around 5C (41F).
Light showers are forecast for Monday and it will remain mild before a change in the weather moves in overnight into Tuesday morning.
More prolonged periods of rain are forecast for Tuesday across most parts of the county.
Overnight temperatures on Tuesday could drop below freezing with a touch of ground frost on Wednesday morning.
Clear skies will keep daytime temperatures down to around 7C (45F) with more freezing conditions expected overnight into Thursday.
Citizen weather expert Ian Thomas says there could be some more wintry weather on the way.
"When this band of light rain and mild weather moves away in mid-week, colder air behind it will move in and temperatures will start to fall," he said.
"It is nothing to worry about at the moment but there could be something more sinister coming our way at the end of the month and into February.
"Longer term forecasters at the Met Office are saying we are in for a wintry spell of weather, but the details are as yet unclear of how severe it will be.
"But it will be in complete contrast to the mild, wet weather experienced in December.
"Fifty years ago in 1962/63 we were under around 18 inches of snow in Gloucestershire in one of the heaviest periods of snowfall on record."