Snow hits roads and schools in parts of the UK
Further heavy snow has hit parts of the UK, causing school closures and travel disruption.
Northern Scotland and north-east England had fresh snowfalls, and the Met Office has issued severe weather warnings for several parts of the UK. Icy roads have proved hazardous for drivers and some weekend sporting events have already been cancelled. It is the earliest widespread snowfall for 17 years and the cold spell is expected to last two weeks. Long cold spell The Met Office has issued severe weather warnings for most regions of Scotland - from Orkney and Shetland down to the southern borders areas - for heavy snow and icy roads on Friday evening through to Saturday. The snow warning in Wales lasts until 1900 GMT on Friday, and a new warning for south-west England has been issued until 0200 GMT on Saturday. There is also a warning of widespread icy roads for Northern Ireland on Friday evening into Saturday. Sub-zero temperatures were recorded across the UK overnight into Friday, far lower than those normally experienced in November. The coldest recorded temperature was in Carterhouse in the Scottish Borders, at -7.8C. Benson in Oxfordshire recorded -7.6C, Newcastle dropped to -4.3C, while the temperature at Kew Gardens in London sank to -3.8C. BBC weather forecaster Simon King said snow was still falling on Friday afternoon in the north and east of the UK, with heavy snow in South Wales and Devon. Up to 10cm (4in) of snow has been forecast in Wales, with up to 15cm on higher ground. Most other places will see 2-5cm of snow in low-lying areas. He said drivers should expect difficult conditions for the rush hour in south Wales, and parts of Devon, Somerset and Dorset. As the snow clears away to the south overnight there will be further snow showers up the eastern side of Britain and temperatures will drop to as low as -6C. On Saturday more snow is forecast for eastern and northern Scotland and north-east England, and further falls are expected on Sunday with some flurries further south. The "bitterly cold" temperatures could drop even more on Saturday and Sunday. The BBC's Danny Savage, in Northumberland, earlier said the snow was knee deep and the travel situation was "very bad". The severe weather has continued to disrupt schools and travel: Up to 15cm of snow blanketed parts of northern and north-east Scotland, and north-east England, on Thursday. Forecasters said the cold spell could last a fortnight, with snow reaching England's southern counties next week. The unusual weather is being caused by high pressure over Greenland and low pressure in the Baltics, forcing cold winds from the north-east across Europe.