THE Met Office have issued five weather warnings for ice across the UK with Brits bracing for more travel chaos and sub-zero conditions.
Temperatures will continue to plummet and the mercury could reach a bone-chilling -20C in northern parts of the country tonight, said the forecaster.
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The Met Office has updated its map to show yellow ice warnings for much of the Midlands, North West England, Eastern England, Wales and Northern Ireland from 4pm on Thursday until 10am on Friday.
Meanwhile, a snow and ice warning for Scotland has been extended to 10am on Friday.
A separate yellow warning for ice is in force from 3am on Friday until 11am, covering South West England and parts of South Wales.
All of the warnings in place across the country are yellow, meaning there is a danger of injury from slips and falls and disruption to travel is expected.
It comes as large swathes of the country deal with disruption caused by the freezing weather.
And the wintry conditions show no sign of letting up soon, say the Met Office.
Met Office meteorologist Liam Eslick said: “It’s going to be another cold couple of days, and recovering into the early part of next week.
“Anywhere across the UK is likely to see those temperatures dipping below freezing and likely to see quite severe frost and ice to form overnight tonight.”
It “could be quite stubborn to clear” on Friday morning and may cling on in some areas throughout the day, Mr Eslick said, adding that parts where it lifts will be bright and sunny.
Devon and Cornwall could turn cloudy with some outbreaks of rain as a front moves towards the south-west, and Dartmoor and Exmoor are likely to see snow.
There is a chance of snow across northern Scotland and possibly the very north-east of England on Friday too.
Mr Eslick said: “Because that rain is falling on some pretty cold ground, it is likely to turn to icy conditions as well.
“So, we are telling people to take care if you are travelling around with these cold temperatures for tomorrow, but at least it’s quite settled and away from that freezing fog it will be nice, bright and sunny”.
Friday night is predicted to bring the lowest temperatures of the cold snap in parts of Scotland and northern England, with temperatures between minus 15C and minus 20C possible.
Mr Eslick said: “That’s probably the lowest limits that we’re … expecting, we probably don’t really expect many places to get close to minus 20C, but we could see one or two places that could just touch that mark overnight Friday into Saturday.
“Just because it’s, again, still conditions, it’s high pressure, not a lot of wind and under clear skies as well.
“Especially where there’s still snow on the ground across Scotland and northern England, that’s sort of a perfect scenario to see those temperatures just plummet from Friday night into Saturday morning as well.”
Mr Eslick said: “Saturday is still going to be another cold one, unfortunately.”
However, clouds will come in from the west which should prevent temperatures dropping as quickly, he said.
The meteorologist added: “Sunday will still be a chilly one, but not as cold as what we’ve seen for today and for tomorrow.
“By Monday, we are expecting the temperatures to come back up to what we would expect for this time of year, which is around sort of 7C (or) 8C”.
UK 5 day weather forecast
Today
A cold start to Friday with frost and patchy freezing fog. Sunny spells and the odd wintry shower in the north and east.
Rain, sleet and some hill snow move into the southwest, leading to some icy stretches.
Tonight
Cloud and patchy rain or hill snow remains in the southwest.
Dry with light winds and clear spells elsewhere allowing frost and freezing fog to form. Cold again for most.
Saturday
Cloudy with a little patchy light rain and hill snow in the west.
Dry, cold with light winds and sunny spells elsewhere. Early fog slow to clear for some.
Sunday to Tuesday
Turning less cold into the new week. Mostly dry and settled in the south, although rather cloudy.
Windier in the northwest with some rain at times. Still some chilly nights.
Snow and winds have so far brought travel disruption, with rail lines forced to close.
Manchester Airport closed both its runways on Thursday morning “due to significant levels of snow” but they were later reopened.
Transport for Wales closed some rail lines in the country due to track damage following a period of “heavy wind, rain and snow”.
Hundreds of schools in Scotland and around 90 in Wales were shut on Thursday.
As icy conditions persist, motorists are being urged to stick to major roads that are most likely to have been gritted.
Car insurer RAC said it has seen the highest levels of demand for rescues in a three-day period since December 2022.
The UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) has extended its cold weather health alert for all of England until Sunday.
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