Britain faces 10cm snowfall

Britain was braced for more snow today with large parts of England and Wales set for as much as 10cm.

The worst-hit places will be higher ground as a fresh band of rain, sleet and snow showers moved across the country.

But this latest spell of wintry weather is expected to be brief with snow turning to rain by the weekend and milder temperatures next week.

Tiffany Curnick, a forecaster with MeteoGroup, the weather division of the Press Association, said: "We've got a front moving in from the south-west that's going to bring southern counties rain and possibly snow over the hills.

"It could be up to 5cm (2in) in places across Wales and the Midlands and 10cm (4in) is possible across higher parts of Wales.

She said the snow would last throughout tonight but then clear quite early tomorrow.

"We could see some more snow coming on Saturday night across Scotland and northern England but in the south it's staying around average temperatures," she added.

South-east England is expected to reach 10C (50F) today while the Midlands will rise to 5C to 6C (41F-42.8F) while further north will remain around freezing.

Severe weather warnings of heavy snow were issued by the Met Office for parts of Scotland while heavy rain was expected in London and eastern and south-eastern England.

But forecasters said the snowfall would give way to a milder spell going into next week with temperatures that could reach as high as 13C (55.4F)

Helen Chivers, forecaster at the Met Office, said: "Really, it's just normal wintry weather we've got over the next few days. As we go into next week, it's going to be very much milder."