Britain braced for yet more snow

Fresh snowfall is forecast to hit parts of Britain today, bringing warnings of icy roads.

Up to 5cm could settle in northern Scotland and in northern and western Wales, with lighter snow showers expected in Merseyside, Shropshire and Derbyshire.

Temperatures dropped well below freezing overnight with a low of minus seven degrees Celsius recorded in Benson, Oxfordshire.

The Met Office warned of widespread icy roads in Scotland, Northern Ireland, Wales, north-west and south-west England and the West Midlands.

But the chilly spell will be replaced by warmer weather as bands of rain move in from the West, forecasters said.

Heavy snow in some parts yesterday caused disruption to motorists and forced the cancellation of several sports fixtures.

The worst-hit areas were the east and west coasts of England, northern Scotland and south-west Wales.

Drivers had to battle icy conditions and road closures as snow hit parts of the North East on Friday night.

There were five separate crashes on Bonemill Lane in Sunderland yesterday morning and police were forced to close the road for an hour and a half.

And an icy road surface led to a three-vehicle collision at a roundabout near Crowther Road in the city.

Nobody was injured in any of the incidents, police said.

Watford's Championship match against Swansea was postponed due to a frozen pitch, along with Oldham's League One match against Brentford, League Two matches at Cheltenham, Lincoln City and Rotherham, and a number of non-league matches.

Tony Conlan, forecaster at MeteoGroup, the weather division of the Press Association, said the nip in the air would give way to warmer, rainy weather by tomorrow.

He said: "It will turn milder in most places with rain and dry spells in between.

"Temperatures will return towards the seasonal average of 4C to 6C, but it will remain quite chilly in Scotland with the potential for snow over the hills."