Warning for motorists as treacherous snow and ice hits roads across the UK

Motorists are facing another day of treacherous driving as snow and ice continues to bring hazardous conditions to roads across the UK.

Weather warnings have been issued by the Met Office for large swathes of the country, with up to 10cm of snow expected in some areas.

See also: Girl falls through ice: Watch what happens

Yellow alerts cover all of Scotland, Northern Ireland and Wales, as well as south-east England, the Midlands, Yorkshire and Humber regions and the north-east.

Overnight temperatures in Yorkshire and London could dip below zero and Scotland will see lows of minus 8C, bringing with it widespread frost.

Sleet and flurries of snow are forecast to sweep across the west coast of the UK, potentially reaching into Herefordshire and Shropshire.

Around 5cm to 10cm of snow is likely to land on higher ground in Wales, the South West, Scotland and Northern Ireland, and up to 4cm on lower ground.

In East Anglia, there could also be as much as 2cm of snow, but forecasters added it was unlikely to hit many cities.

Icy patches are predicted just as widely, with the Met Office website warning drivers they could face "difficult" conditions.

A Met Office spokeswoman said: "We have warnings out in Scotland for some snow in the west and ice in the south, as well as in Northern Ireland, south-west England and into Wales.

"The East Coast will have ice warnings into East Anglia and Lincolnshire and the North East.

"Friday will see bands of cold and wintry showers moving southwards, with gale-force winds in places such as East Anglia and Kent."

On Thursday, two schools in Northumberland were reportedly closed because of severe weather conditions, as wintry conditions spread across the UK.

Network Rail said it had thousands of rail engineers working "day and night" to prevent delays in travel.