UK shivers as temperatures plunge to -10C

Temperatures are expected to fall to as low as minus 10C in rural Scotland over the weekend as the winter chill sets in across the UK.

Freezing conditions will affect most parts with the Met Office issuing yellow ice warnings covering the east coast of Scotland and England as well as Wales, Northern Ireland and parts of south-west England and the Midlands.

With largely clear skies and no cloud cover, the public are being urged to take care on untreated roads and paths hit by frost.

Saturday is forecast to be frosty but many areas will stay dry and enjoy sunny spells. Wintry showers will persist in eastern areas.

Rural parts of the Highlands and Aberdeenshire will face the lowest temperatures, forecasters said, while around 5cm to 10cm (2-4in) of snow could fall on higher ground.

Met Office forecaster Rebecca Simpson said: ''Despite the sunshine it's not feeling particularly warm with cold northerly winds bringing air down from the Arctic.

''Temperatures are widely below freezing overnight, potentially even as low as minus 10C across the Highlands of Scotland.

''There will be a fine start to Saturday with some wintry showers down the east coast of England and the north-west of Scotland, but it will largely be a dry day with lighter winds, and won't feel quite as chilly.''

Early next week the forecast is expected to be changeable with showers or longer spells of rain, sleet and snow.

With winter weather finally taking hold many places across the UK saw a covering of snow during the week, causing travel disruption.

Network Rail said they had thousands of rail engineers working ''day and night'' to prevent delays to travel.

While the conditions may hit commuters, snowfall and low temperatures have been welcomed by Scotland's snowsports centres which plan to mark World Snow Day on Sunday.

Heather Negus, chair of Ski-Scotland, said: ''With all five of our mountain snowsports areas now operating, it's looking good for some real World Snow Day fun on Sunday and we hope that lots of families will come along to enjoy some mountain air, mountain snow and above all have some fun.''