The Met Office has issued an ice weather warning across much of England and Wales as temperatures plummet below freezing overnight.
The 'yellow' alert, issued at 10.14pm on Tuesday (March 14), came into force at midnight. It remains in place until 8.30am this morning (Wednesday, March 15).
The weather forecaster warns that icy patches are possible on untreated surfaces. "Icy patches may form overnight, especially where surfaces remain wet after earlier showers," said the Met Office.
It advises that affected areas should expect icy patches on some untreated roads, pavements and cycle paths.
The warning covers the eastern half of Wales, parts of South West England, most of North West England, all of the Midlands and the North East, East, South East and South of England.
The Met Office's UK overnight forecast reads: "Further snow showers for northern Scotland, especially Shetland and Orkney where turning very windy this evening. Elsewhere, early evening rain, sleet and snow showers gradually fading leaving a cold and frosty night under clearing skies."
Its UK forecast for tomorrow predicts "a cold, bright start for most". The Met Office says: "Cloud and rain, preceded by snow in parts of northern England and Scotland then spread eastwards reach all but the far east by dusk.
The Met Office had previously issued yellow weather warnings for snow and ice across most of the country lasting from Monday to Tuesday morning - and until Wednesday for Shetland.
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Met Office meteorologist Simon Partridge said wintry weather would hit the UK last night (Tuesday) and continue until Thursday. Lows of -12c were forecast in in the sheltered glens of Scotland by Wednesday morning.
He said cold air in Scotland on Monday will push across the whole of the UK by Tuesday afternoon. Parts of southern England will be saved from the worst of the cold early in the week, but come Wednesday temperatures will drop across the country, Mr Partridge said.
He added: “Wednesday overnight will be very cold for pretty much the whole of the UK. So, if you’ve got plants that have gone out early, get them in tomorrow because the frost is going to be widespread in the morning.”
But the week will be “unsettled”, with the weather shifting to rainy and windy amid milder temperatures from Thursday onwards, he said. “There’s some cloud and rain on Wednesday onwards pushing back in from the west, so milder air comes in – there will be some snow on the front of that rain but it won’t last very long. Thursday’s main concern is how much rainfall there will be.”
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