Yellow warning for snow and ice in force as Arctic air freezes Britain
The alert covers most of Scotland until 12pm on Friday, with a separate warning issued for northern parts of England.
Warnings of snow and ice have come into force in the north of the UK as Arctic air blows in.
A yellow warning for most of Scotland came into force at 4pm on Thursday and remains in place until 12pm on Friday.
One for northern England will be in place from 7pm on Thursday until midday the following day.
The Met Office predicts that in Scotland, snow showers affecting high ground are expected to start falling to low levels through Thursday evening and overnight.
By Friday morning there may be 1-2cm on low ground while on hills above 300 metres (984ft), accumulations of 2-5cm are possible, and up to 10cm “very locally”.
The warning covers all of Scotland apart from westerly parts of the Hebrides and Argyll and Bute.
In England, snow is expected to fall initially over higher hills before moving to lower levels through Thursday evening.
Forecasters predict any settling snow will mainly be confined to high ground, with 2-5cm possible above 200 metres (656ft), while a few locations above 300 metres may see as much as 10cm.
The rain and snow is expected to clear south during the early hours of Friday with temperatures expected to fall quickly as skies clear, leading to ice on untreated surfaces.
The warning covers North East and North West England, part of the Midlands, and Yorkshire and Humber.
Met Office spokesman Grahame Madge said an air mass called Arctic maritime air is bringing temperatures down.
He said: “The snow and ice warnings that we’ve issued at the moment cover pretty much Scotland and northern parts of England. There may be some snow showers a little bit further south than that.
“We’re not expecting any particularly impactful snow and the conditions will be quite brief before we get another system coming in from the Atlantic over the weekend, but for the next few days, it will feel quite a bit different, as we’ve got colder air coming in.”
The Met Office said some roads and railways are likely to be affected by the conditions, with longer journey times expected.
It also said there is a risk of injury from slipping on icy surfaces, and urged drivers to take care.
In England the UK Health Security Agency has issued a yellow cold health alert for the East Midlands, West Midlands, North East, North West, Yorkshire and the Humber.
