As snow, sleet and ice continue to affect much of the country, the Met Office is urging people to stay safe in the cold weather and to take precautions when heading outdoors. If you are going outside for a walk you should follow a "thin clothing" rule and wear several layers of light clothes, rather than one thick layer.

The cold snap gripping the UK is predicted to continue with Friday night set to be the chilliest night of the winter.

The Met Office operates 24 hours a day, 365 days a year, so warnings can be issued at any time, day or night. These can be for any extreme conditions, be they rain, thunderstorms, wind, snow, lightning, ice, extreme heat and fog.

The Met Office has issued a fresh eight-hour weather warning as the UK reels from heavy snowfall after what was expected to be the coldest night of winter so far. A new yellow warning covers large swathes of southwest England and south to mid Wales for ice, which came into place at 3am this morning and will remain until 11am.

The Met Office has issued new weather warnings for parts of the UK, with yellow warnings for ice and snow in place until Friday morning. The two new warnings cover parts of Northern Ireland and Wales as well as areas in north-west England and the east of England - they come after an existing warning for snow and ice in parts of northern Scotland.

The mercury could reach minus 20C in some parts of the UK on Friday night, the Met Office has said, with weather warnings for ice in place across the UK

The yellow weather warning issued by the Met Office is only in place for this morning. After about 10.30am, the warning will then be removed, but motorists will need to stay vigil

Yellow alerts for snow, ice and fog have been issued for today, after snow and sleet caused disruption yesterday.

The Met Office has issued fresh weather warnings for ice after huge areas of the UK were hit by heavy snow. Parts of southern Scotland, the northeast, Yorkshire, the Midlands and East Anglia have been issued a yellow warning for ice.