Met Office issues weather warnings as snow and ice to hit UK

Temperatures are set to drop

The yellow warning will be in place from 10am on Monday (18 November) until 10am on Tuesday (19 November), and covers much of southern Scotland and north-east England, parts of Yorkshire, and parts of north-west England, including Lancashire and Cumbria.

Meanwhile another snow and ice warning is in place for northern Scotland from 4pm on Sunday (17 November) until 11am on Monday.

Higher ground could see as much as 20cm of snow on Monday and Tuesday, whilst lower areas could see up 10 10cm of the white stuff.

Spells of rain, hail, sleet and snow are forecast from Sunday through to Tuesday, with drivers warned to about the potential for dangerous road conditions.

Ice could form on untreated roads, pavements and cycle paths, as temperatures drop overnight and the Met Office has warned about the risk of "injuries from slips and falls on icy surfaces".

People are being urged to plan journeys ahead of time, whether travelling by foot, car or public transport, and to allow plenty of time for journeys.

The Met Office has warned bus and train services could be delayed or cancelled, road closures are likely, and some rural communities could be cut off.

Power cuts are also likely.

Met Office spokesperson Grahame Madge said: "It's going to get colder over the coming days - it's still pretty mild in the south but there is a cold front that will be sinking south across northern parts of the UK.

"There's going to be some wintriness in the hills, for example, tonight and into tomorrow.

"That's all at quite high levels - Scottish mountains, Lake District maybe.

"Then we get into our warning period for snow and ice."

The cold weather will still be "largely sunny", with Madge adding that "technically and meteorologically, we are not in winter yet."

“It’s still late autumn as for meteorologists winter begins in December – but this is the first really cold spell of the season so far," he said.

Falling temperatures and more wintry weather is a result of low pressure moving in over the UK, and comes off the back of a period of high pressure so far in November which has plunged the country into plenty of grey, drizzly weather.