UK weather - live updates: Met Office extends heavy snow warnings as band of rain and sleet moves eastwards across Britain

Latest updates as big chill takes hold

Snow begins to cover M6 in Cumbria as up to 10cm could fall on higher ground across large parts of the UK

Bitterly cold temperatures hit Britain and a blanket of snow swept across the country on Tuesday, causing schools to close and widespread travel disruption.

The Met Office put severe weather warnings for snow and ice across most of the UK into Wednesday morning. Meteorologists also extended snow and ice warnings to cover Thursday and Friday.

Many parts of the country, including northern England, Scotland and the South West, woke to thick snow and icy conditions on Tuesday morning.

It forced the Highland Council to close 13 primary schools and nurseries, while pupils in north Wales were also told to stay home.

A motorist in the Highlands was stopped by police and handed a fixed penalty notice in the early hours after they were caught driving a snow-covered car with just a small square of windscreen cleared.

Police in Cumbria also urged motorists to slow down after tweeting an image of an overturned car lying on its roof on the M6.

Forecasters warned that Britain is facing “very significant snowfall” for the rest of this week, with temperatures plummet to at least -10C in parts of Scotland on Tuesday night, while a “bitingly cold” Wednesday is set to reach highs of 2C or 3C in some places.

See below for the day's developments

Key Points

• Up to 10cm of snow falls on higher ground
• Temperatures drop to -7C in Scottish Highlands Tuesday morning
• Yellow warnings for snow and ice in place across most of the country

[29 January 2019 22:30 · Adam Forrest]

Tonight’s final update from the Met Office on the deluge of snow ahead. The weather system forecast for Thursday could break this winter’s current record low of -10.8 degrees and bring up to 10cm of snow to parts of southern England.

“I think Scotland will probably be the coldest place but it's not out of the question we got into negative double figures in parts of England,” said meteorologist Alex Berkill.