Weather: No Sign Of Spring Amid More Snow

Snow has covered the north of the UK overnight as persistently cold weather keeps an unusual grip on March.

Heavy snow - up to 10cm across lowlands and 25cm on higher ground - has fallen across Scotland, with temperatures hovering around a bitter three degrees.

The Met Office has issued amber alerts for many parts of Scotland, while gale force winds are also forecast.

Driving conditions have been made difficult and more than 100 schools have closed. Aberdeenshire and the Borders are among the worst hit areas.

Sky News Weather Presenter Isobel Lang warned people to prepare for disruption.

She said: "Heavy snow and strong winds will bring travel disruption today with the worst of the conditions likely to be across central and eastern Scotland, northeast England and Northern Ireland.

"Bitter east winds will blow the snow around causing drifting and blizzard conditions."

The outlook for the rest of the UK also looks typically unseasonal.

Lang said: "Heavy showers in other parts of Britain could also bring hail, sleet or snow, especially later today and tonight."

Meanwhile, the whole country should be braced for further snow storms and cold wet weather throughout the week - and beyond.

"Tomorrow may start with some snow in the morning, perhaps disruptive in places, but it should turn drier during the day.

"Concerns increase again, though, later in the week as wet and windy weather, preceded by snow, moves in across the southwest and spreads north across the country.

"Although rainfall totals may be enough to cause some problems across the south and southwest, it is likely to be snow that is most disruptive, especially across central and northern parts," Lang said.

The latest snowy spell continues a cold month across the UK which has brought an unwelcome delay to springtime weather.

Forecasters said that while snow was not uncommon in March, the persistent dumpings and low temperatures were unusual.

It is too early to predict if it will be a white Easter or not, but Lang warned that the run-up looked "unsettled and unspring-like".