Snow And Ice Cause Further Disruption

Snow could fall on most of the UK by the weekend as the cold snap continues to bring freezing temperatures to most of the country.

Eastern areas bore the brunt of the snowfall on Tuesday with 42 schools closing in Norfolk and all planes grounded at Norwich International Airport.

A six-vehicle pile-up on the A11 left three people with injuries.

The Met Office recorded snow depths of 8cm (3in) in Norfolk and Suffolk.

The lowest temperature recorded overnight was minus 5.7C (22F) at Altnaharra in the Scottish Highlands.

Most of the country was dealing with temperatures of around 0C-1C (32F-34F) with the cold snap is set to continue.

Many areas will dry out by Wednesday but there is a chance snow will return to most of Britain on Friday, with some potentially heavy falls in central and eastern areas.

Sky News weather producer Joanna Robinson said: "Tomorrow, England, Wales and eastern Scotland will be mainly dry with good sunny spells, but fog will be slow to clear, while Kent will have further snow showers.

"Elsewhere, Ireland and western Scotland will be rather dull, with rain and hill snow moving in through the day.

"It'll be near freezing over eastern Britain, milder for Ireland and the south-west."

Robinson added: "Thursday will bring the threat of further snow for parts of Wales and the Midlands.

"Friday and the weekend look bitterly cold, with snow expected in places."

The Met Office has seven yellow warnings of severe weather, namely snow, in place.

The bad weather continued to cause problems on the roads.

The AA reported 7,700 breakdowns by lunchtime, around 1,000 an hour, with East Anglia and Essex the busiest regions.

The RAC said they were expecting 16% more breakdowns than the 7,500 they would normally expect on a Tuesday in winter - meaning the figure could approach 9,000 by the end of the day.

The Highways Agency has warned motorists to take extra care on slippery and icy roads.

The agency says it has a 500-strong fleet of salt spreaders and snow ploughs on standby should there be a heavy dump of snow or heavily iced roads.

The sub-zero temperatures and increased heating bills has raised fears the number of deaths this winter could top the 24,000 in the relatively mild 2011-12 winter, the Local Government Association said.