Watch the video! Freezing rain in Italy

Freezing rain recently fell across parts of Italy, with this spectacular footage taken near Genoa, Italy.

Freezing rain is a rare type of precipitation, whereby supercooled liquid droplets freeze upon contact with a surface, coating it instantly in ice.

To become supercooled, precipitation needs to pass through a layer of air that is above freezing, melting into a liquid droplet, then falling back through a thin layer of sub-zero air nearer to the ground, allowing it to become supercooled.

These supercooled water droplets that have no dust, dirt or other particles in them can remain as liquid down to around -40C.

The conditions needed for this to occur are extremely specific, and so seeing freezing rain in the UK is rather rare, but its consequences can be hugely dangerous and disruptive.

There is the risk that we could be seeing freezing rain across parts of the UK on Sunday, so check back for a forecast on this coming Saturday morning.