The Met Office has issued two rare amber weather warnings, with heavy snow and ice forecast to hit the UK on Thursday.
One warning is in place from 8am-3pm covering large parts of north Wales and Shropshire. The second runs from noon-6pm and covers the Peak District and southern Pennines.
Up to 25cm (10in) of snow has been forecast for higher areas, with strong and gusty easterly winds meaning drifting is possible.
Yellow weather warnings had been in place for Thursday’s Arctic blast of cold weather and were upgraded on Wednesday morning.
The Met Office said there was a good chance some rural communities could be cut off by the snow and power cuts and loss of mobile phone coverage was possible.
People have been urged not to drive in these conditions. If they do need to make an essential journey, they should consider alternative forms of transport, the Met Office said.
There are also updated yellow snow weather warnings in place for 6am Thursday to 6am Friday in northern England, north Wales and parts of the west and east Midlands, including Wolverhampton, Leicester, Nottingham and Derby.
A separate yellow snow and ice warning for Northern Ireland is in place from 10am Thursday until 6am on Friday.
As well as snow, the Met Office is warning that southern England and south Wales can expect periods of heavy rain on Thursday, which brings the possibility of disruption, particularly to transport.
It has issued a yellow rain warning for those areas running from 2am Thursday to 6am Friday.
“Flooding of a few homes and businesses is possible,” the Met Office said. Many places in the warning area can expect up to 25mm of rain while higher ground areas could see as much as 45mm.”
Drivers are being warned to prepare for potentially difficult journeys. Chris Wood, from the AA, said: “If you need to travel, reduce your speed to account for the conditions and leave plenty of space behind other vehicles, and try to use main roads where possible as these are more likely to have been gritted.
“Allow extra time, as it’s likely your journey will take longer than usual, and ensure you have plenty of fuel or electrical charge if driving an electric vehicle (EV).
“The cold snap is likely to affect vehicle breakdown levels, with faults such as flat batteries and wiper faults.”
The snow, ice and rain comes after what has been an exceptionally mild few days of weather for many in the UK, with Chertsey in Surrey on Tuesday experiencing the day’s highest recorded temperature of 14.3C. The Scottish town of Leuchars had the most sunshine, 6.3 hours.
For many areas it has meant an abundance of daffodils and snowdrops, normally seen as a harbinger of spring.
The UK has had an exceptionally stormy autumn and winter with more named storms – 10 – by January than at any other year since the Met Office began naming them in 2015-16.
The predicted heavy snow is part of a blast of cold Arctic air hitting the UK and a “clash of air masses”.
