Warnings issued for ice following snowfalls

Weather warnings for ice have been issued following snowfalls which caused travel problems in parts of the UK.

Heavy falls affected the M77 and M74 in Scotland and caused the A66 trans-Pennine route between County Durham and Cumbria to shut until Friday afternoon.

And the Met Office issued two yellow weather warnings for ice from central Scotland down to Manchester and in central southern England and southern Wales until midnight on Friday.

Met Office forecaster Craig Snell said: “It has been a wintry 24 hours across a good chunk of the UK.”

He expected temperatures after sunset to drop low enough to cause icy conditions on untreated roads in the areas of the yellow weather warning.

But later in the night, air temperatures will rise again as a band of rain comes across, meaning the ice should have gone for most by Saturday morning.

Mr Snell said: “During Saturday, England and Wales will be quite wet and windy.

“It will be a very unsettled day to come for some of us through Saturday.

“Sunday is looking drier and brighter, though there will be outbreaks of rain with the north-west of the UK most likely to see that.

“The South East will be the wettest on Saturday, so there will be a role reversal on Sunday.

“Temperatures will still be chilly, but not anywhere near as cold as it has been.”