UK weather: Met Office issues severe weather warnings as ice, wind and snow sweep across Britain

Forecasters says cold snap will settle in for the next two weeks and warned of transport disruption

Sheep in the hills above Glenarm in Co Antrim, as the first snowfall of the season covered parts of the county (PA)

As a cold snap expected to last two weeks settles over the whole of Britain, the Met Office has issued severe weather warnings for some areas impacted by ice, wind and snow on higher ground.

Large parts of Scotland and some of northern England were told to brace for conditions “likely to cause some local disruption to travel”, while yesterday some areas of higher ground saw up to 10cm (4 inches) of snow.

Alexi Boothman, a forecaster with MeteoGroup, said temperatures were markedly lower than the average for this time of year.

Maximum temperatures in England and Wales were around 6C or 7C yesterday, below the average of 10C or 11C.

Most of England will see temperatures reach minus 3C or minus 4C today, caused by cold winds from the North, while reports suggested Benson in Oxfordshire recorded the lowest temperature of the season last night at minus 6.5C.

The front moving down from the Arctic brought cold wintry gusts of up to 70mph across some of the west coast, and has now combined with high pressure to see icy conditions settle over Britain – expected to continue for the next two weeks.

Nicola Maxey, a spokeswoman for the Met Office, said: “It will stay cold, particularly in the south east, with frost widespread. This generally settled but cold weather with frost patches takes us through to 3 December.”

Manchester will be the coldest city later in the week, when the mercury is tipped to fall to minus 2C on Friday and minus 3C on Saturday.

Ms Maxey said the majority of us will see wintry showers, with the possibility of settled snow on higher ground.

The severe weather warning for ice in northern areas was set to be place until late morning tomorrow, with road users advised to drive carefully and expect some travel disruption.

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