For free real time breaking news alerts sent straight to your inbox sign up to our breaking news emails Sign up to our free breaking news emails
Weather warnings are in place across the country as temperatures are predicted to fall to minus 10C.
The Met Office said temperatures will drop further through the night with clear skies causing wet surfaces to “freeze quite readily”.
Temperatures are likely to drop to minus 4C in Central London and as low as minus 10C in Aberdeenshire.
A yellow warning for ice is in place for the southeast, central and north of England as well as for Scotland from Wednesday afternoon through to Thursday morning.
Throughout the day temperatures struggled to reach much above freezing. Central London saw its coldest day of the year as temperatures peaked at just 2.6C while Spadeadam in Cumbria was the coldest place during the day at minus 2.5C.
According to a Met Office spokesperson, snow and sleet showers are likely to continue throughout Wednesday, pushing “southwards across parts of Scotland and into northern and then central England and Wales”.
He added: “Sleet or snow falling on frozen surfaces is likely to form ice.”
There will be a milder end to the week but the cold weather is forecast to return next week.
The spokesperson said: “Saturday could be quite unsettled with potential for strong winds and rains. As we go through Sunday we will see a return to similar conditions that we have at the moment. It will be colder again and then with that brings the risk of wintry showers and overnight ice. It will quickly turn cold and showery again.”
Show all 62 1 /62Snow and icy conditions hit the UK – Winter weather in pictures Snow and icy conditions hit the UK – Winter weather in pictures Snow covers houses in Gold Hill, in Shaftesbury, Dorset
PA
Snow and icy conditions hit the UK – Winter weather in pictures People enjoying a walk through Whitelee Windfarm in North Ayrshire, Scotland
EPA
Snow and icy conditions hit the UK – Winter weather in pictures Snow Rollers form in a field in Marlborough, Wiltshire. They are a rare meteorological phenomenon in which large snowballs are formed naturally as chunks of snow are blown along the ground by the wind. As they move they pick up snow on the way, in much the same way that the large snowballs used in snowmen are made.
SWNS/Brian Bayliss
Snow and icy conditions hit the UK – Winter weather in pictures Two men help a driver try to get his car moving, after snowfalls yesterday and overnight have brought widespread disruption
PA
Snow and icy conditions hit the UK – Winter weather in pictures Snow dusts the Angel of the North sculpture and covers the ground surrounding it in Gateshead
PA
Snow and icy conditions hit the UK – Winter weather in pictures A wintry scene at Nenthead in Cumbria after a band of wintry weather brought hill snow and a risk of ice to large parts of the country
PA
Snow and icy conditions hit the UK – Winter weather in pictures Children play in the snow in Hartley Wintney, in Hampshire
AFP/Getty
Snow and icy conditions hit the UK – Winter weather in pictures A dog walker in a street in Bristol
PA
Snow and icy conditions hit the UK – Winter weather in pictures The River Forth in Stirling
PA
Snow and icy conditions hit the UK – Winter weather in pictures A man walks past the Starbucks Coffee store at the Membury Services on the M4
PA
Snow and icy conditions hit the UK – Winter weather in pictures A snowplough clears a road near in Shaftesbury, Dorset
PA
Snow and icy conditions hit the UK – Winter weather in pictures Ice crystals form on the windows of the Scottish Parliament in Edinburgh
PA
Snow and icy conditions hit the UK – Winter weather in pictures A couple walk through a frosty landscape near Ashford in Kent
PA
Snow and icy conditions hit the UK – Winter weather in pictures Ducks on a frozen near Merthyr Tydfil in Wales
PA
Snow and icy conditions hit the UK – Winter weather in pictures A gate at the entrance to a farm near the village of Moscow in Ayrshire
EPA
Snow and icy conditions hit the UK – Winter weather in pictures People walk past the frozen Sefton Park Lake in Liverpool
PA
Snow and icy conditions hit the UK – Winter weather in pictures Partially frozen water on the River Clunie in Scotland
Getty Images
Snow and icy conditions hit the UK – Winter weather in pictures A frozen notice board at the allotments in Mudchute farm on the Isle of Dogs
PA
Snow and icy conditions hit the UK – Winter weather in pictures Snow on the hills around Buttermere in the Lake District
PA
Snow and icy conditions hit the UK – Winter weather in pictures A man snowboards at Solomon's Temple in Buxton, Derbyshire
PA
Snow and icy conditions hit the UK – Winter weather in pictures A couple walk through the Frost in Ashford, Kent
PA
Snow and icy conditions hit the UK – Winter weather in pictures A woman walks through snow covered trees in Buxton, Derbyshire
PA
Snow and icy conditions hit the UK – Winter weather in pictures Altrincham, Greater Manchester
Reuters
Snow and icy conditions hit the UK – Winter weather in pictures Braemar, Scotland
Getty
Snow and icy conditions hit the UK – Winter weather in pictures 3 wheel Reliant Robin in the snow off the A6 near the village of Shap in Cumbria
PA
Snow and icy conditions hit the UK – Winter weather in pictures A red deer grazes in the snow, in Glen Etive, Scotland
Getty Images
Snow and icy conditions hit the UK – Winter weather in pictures People skiing along a road in West Didsbury
PA/Twitter/CTizzle27
Snow and icy conditions hit the UK – Winter weather in pictures A Shetland pony gallops in a field in Tingwall on the Shetland Islands
PA
Snow and icy conditions hit the UK – Winter weather in pictures Morning fog floats through the valley at Tingwall
PA
Snow and icy conditions hit the UK – Winter weather in pictures Clare Strode and her 4 year old son Alejandro enjoy sledging on Camp Hill, Woolton
PA
Snow and icy conditions hit the UK – Winter weather in pictures Sheep surrounded by snow-covered fields near Balado in Fife
PA
Snow and icy conditions hit the UK – Winter weather in pictures Liverpool Airport which had to temporarily halted flights due to the severe weather
Darren Reece/PA
Snow and icy conditions hit the UK – Winter weather in pictures A husky dog enjoys a walk on Camp Hill, Woolton
PA
Snow and icy conditions hit the UK – Winter weather in pictures Snowmen on the banks of the River Cam in Cambridge
PA
Snow and icy conditions hit the UK – Winter weather in pictures People walk along a snow covered road in Altrincham
Reuters
Snow and icy conditions hit the UK – Winter weather in pictures People walk through snow on the banks of the River Cam in Cambridge
PA
Snow and icy conditions hit the UK – Winter weather in pictures A train at Hunt's Cross station in Liverpool
PA
Snow and icy conditions hit the UK – Winter weather in pictures A couple walk through a snowy park, in High Wycombe
Getty
Snow and icy conditions hit the UK – Winter weather in pictures A horse in a snowy field in the Divis Mountain area of Belfast
PA
Snow and icy conditions hit the UK – Winter weather in pictures An out of service Ulsterbus travels along the Glenshane Pass in after heavy snowfall in Northern Ireland
PA
Snow and icy conditions hit the UK – Winter weather in pictures Network Rail on the railway in Kyleum, Scotland
PA
Snow and icy conditions hit the UK – Winter weather in pictures A worker uses a bobcat to clear snow from a sidewalk alongside Nantasket Beach in Hull
Getty
Snow and icy conditions hit the UK – Winter weather in pictures A man walks his dog through the snow in Whitley Bay, North Tyneside
PA
Snow and icy conditions hit the UK – Winter weather in pictures A snow plough CLEARING TRACKS
PA
Snow and icy conditions hit the UK – Winter weather in pictures Heavy snow fall in Glasgow's West End
PA
Snow and icy conditions hit the UK – Winter weather in pictures A woman walks through a snow shower in London
EPA
Snow and icy conditions hit the UK – Winter weather in pictures Snow covers the ground in Cheshire
PA
Snow and icy conditions hit the UK – Winter weather in pictures Walkers on a snow-covered path outside the Peak View tea rooms near Macclesfield
PA
Snow and icy conditions hit the UK – Winter weather in pictures A gritter from the Northern Ireland Department of Infrastructure clears the road during heavy snowfall on the Glenshane Pass
PA
Snow and icy conditions hit the UK – Winter weather in pictures Surfers take on the big waves at Tynemouth
PA
Snow and icy conditions hit the UK – Winter weather in pictures Frost covers the grass in Windsor Great Park, Berkshire while deer eat
PA
Snow and icy conditions hit the UK – Winter weather in pictures Snow fall on the beach at Whitley Bay, North Tyneside
PA
Snow and icy conditions hit the UK – Winter weather in pictures People traverse the frosty river banks at the base of Pen y Fan mountain in the Brecon Beacons
PA
Snow and icy conditions hit the UK – Winter weather in pictures Walkers make their way along the Long Walk near Windsor Castle
PA
Snow and icy conditions hit the UK – Winter weather in pictures Farmhouses in Teesdale
PA
Snow and icy conditions hit the UK – Winter weather in pictures Members of the public make their way through a snow shower in the West End in Glasgow
Getty
Snow and icy conditions hit the UK – Winter weather in pictures A dog walker makes her way along the Long Walk near Windsor Castle
PA
Snow and icy conditions hit the UK – Winter weather in pictures A car drives through a snow shower in London
EPA
Snow and icy conditions hit the UK – Winter weather in pictures Heavy snowfall on the Glenshane Pass
PA
Snow and icy conditions hit the UK – Winter weather in pictures Seagulls on a frozen Marden Quarry in North Tyneside
PA
Snow and icy conditions hit the UK – Winter weather in pictures Snow covers the Killhope lead mining museum in County Durham
PA
Snow and icy conditions hit the UK – Winter weather in pictures Snow showers along the sea front at Whitley Bay
PA
The weather conditions disrupted travel across the country on Wednesday.
Greater Anglia Rail told passengers that trains would run with speed restrictions between London and Cambridge, while some services were likely to be cancelled, delayed by up to 15 minutes or revised.
Merseyrail said ice had prevented electricity from reaching the trains, which meant numerous services between Aintree and Ormskirk, Hooton and Ellesmere Port, and Hooton and Chester were cancelled.
In Buckinghamshire, several schools were closed because of the conditions.
Join our commenting forum
Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies