Michael Gove has inadvertently demonstrated an uncanny knack for all things meteorological after accurately predicting the weather on Tuesday.

The environment secretary warned “winter is coming” if MPs voted against Theresa May’s Brexit deal, which they duly did.

And lo and behold, here comes the winter.

Westminster might be reaching boiling point, but the mercury is set to tumble after a spell of unseasonably warm weather.

Meteorologist with the Met Office Marco Petagna said: “Things are turning colder, but it is just more typical winter conditions.

“It has been so mild this winter that it will be a bit of a shock to the system even though temperatures will be average for this time of year or just below.”

He continued: “Certainly we could start to see some sleet and snow showers across the higher ground of Scotland.”

Northern parts of Scotland and the east of England could also see some snow showers over the course of Wednesday, although it is unlikely to settle.

“It’s nothing unusual, but it’s the first wintry weather that some parts of the UK have seen for a while,” he said.

The temperature will continue to fall going into Thursday, leading to a widespread frost.

“There won’t be too much in the way of snow accumulation, although some of the higher ground of Scotland could see several centimetres,” Petagna said.

Elsewhere, the Met Office expects to see a few icy patches but nothing that was expected to cause any real issues to public safety.

However, things could get quite a lot colder at the beginning of next week.

“There’s quite a lot of uncertainty about how things will play out,” Petagna said.