PARTS of Scotland will continue to be beset by snow and ice on Tuesday – with the potential for the country to experience the coldest night of the year for a second day running.
The Met Office has issued a further yellow snow and ice warning covering northern Scotland and north-east England from midnight on Tuesday until noon on Thursday.
A separate snow and ice warning covers Shetland until midnight tonight.
Met Office spokesperson Oli Claydon said there will be heavy snow in some places again on Tuesday.
“Coming into force at midnight tonight all the way through to lunchtime on Thursday, (there is a) large snow and ice warning covering the North East of England, the whole sort of northern portion of Scotland, as well as the Highlands and islands,” he said.
He warned there could be “as much as 15 to 20 centimetres of snow accumulating over high ground”.
Claydon said northern Scotland could record even colder temperatures on Tuesday after breaking the record for the coldest night of the year on Monday.
“In terms of temperature, we could see another very cold night, especially in parts of Scotland where we’ve got that lying snow,” he said.
“We saw minus 15C last night. We could see similar or potentially even colder tonight under clear skies with that snowfall lying in some places.
“So a very cold night there but also broadly very cold across the whole of the UK, with widespread freezing conditions.”
The Met Office said the lowest temperature recorded was minus 15.6C at Braemer in Aberdeenshire, with the five next coldest temperatures all recorded in Scotland, including minus 13.1 at Balmoral.
Meanwhile, three boys aged eight, 10 and 11 died after falling into an icy lake in Solihull on Sunday afternoon.
A fourth boy, six, remains in critical condition in hospital.
Richard Stanton, area commander for West Midlands Fire and Rescue Service, said: “We know that the weather forecast for the next few days is expected to be bitterly cold. Please, adults and children alike, stay away from open water. Under no circumstances venture on to ice regardless how thick or safe you think this ice may be.”
Drivers on northern sections of the M25 were stranded for several hours as traffic was at a standstill.
The UK’s busiest motorway was closed in both directions between Junction 23 for South Mimms and Junction 25 for Waltham Cross, in Hertfordshire, on Monday morning.
National Highways said the closure was caused by “snow and jack-knifed lorries”.
