Overnight snow forecast for England and Wales

More snow is on the way for the UK overnight with large parts of England and Wales expected to be covered by 6am tomorrow, forecasters have predicted.

As much as 10cm (4in) could fall over higher ground as a fresh band of rain, sleet and snow showers moves across the country from midnight.

But the latest spell of wintry weather is expected to be brief with snow turning to rain by the weekend and milder temperatures next week.

Tiffany Curnick, a forecaster with Meteogroup, the weather division of the Press Association, said: "It's all starting off overnight tonight. We've got a front moving in from the south-west that's going to bring southern counties rain and possibly snow over the hills.

"It's going to turn to snow after midnight as it moves northwards and by early tomorrow morning, we could be looking at it covering most of Wales and central and southern England.

"It could be up to 5cm (2in) in places across Wales and the Midlands and 10cm (4in) is possible across higher parts of Wales.

"It continues northwards into southern Scotland tomorrow evening. It will probably last throughout Friday night and then it's clearing quite early on Saturday.

"We could see some more snow coming on Saturday night across Scotland and northern England but in the south it's staying around average temperatures."

South-east England is expected to reach double figures tomorrow at 10C (50F) while the Midlands will rise to 5C to 6C (41F-42.8F) while further north will remain around freezing.

Drivers were urged to take extra care tomorrow as the chilly weather returns.

The AA said it will have extra patrols on duty to deal with breakdowns and call-outs.

Darron Burness, the AA's head of special operations, said: "A changing brew of heavy rain, snow and surface water will cause challenging driving conditions in many areas, especially in Scotland which is set to have freezing daytime temperatures.

"Even if the weather looks okay when you set out, it's often very unpredictable and changeable, so could be fine one minute and awful the next.

"Drivers can get caught out by sudden hard snow showers, as the snow can quickly compact, turning the roads very slippery.

"Heavy rain could cause localised flooding, so keep your speed down, especially if you see surface water ahead, as it's very difficult to gauge how deep it is and could well be covering a pothole."

Severe weather warnings of heavy snow were issued by the Met Office for parts of Scotland while heavy rain was expected in London, the east and south-east of England.

But forecasters said tomorrow's snowfall will give way to a milder spell going into next week with temperatures that could reach as high as 13C (55.4F)

Helen Chivers, forecaster at the Met Office, said: "Really, it's just normal wintry weather we've got over the next few days. As we go into next week, it's going to be very much milder."