UK weather: Temperatures plunge to -6C as Met Office ice warnings force hundreds of schools to shut

Meanwhile, Omagh will see temperatures dip to as low as -5C in Northern Ireland.

Wales, which has been hit with school closures amid ice warnings, will see mercury fall to -4C in Carmarthen and Llandovery in the early hours of the morning.

While temperatures remain slightly higher in England, mercury will dip below freezing from Okehampton to Ludlow and Gloucester to Hawes.

Wintry weather prompted the Met Office to issue five ice warnings between midnight and midday.

Impacted areas include: Grampian, Highlands & Eilean Siar, Orkney & Shetland, North East England, SW Scotland, Lothian Borders, Yorkshire & Humber, East Midlands, East of England, London & South East England, South West England, and Wales.

The UK's national weather service also warned Scotland could see snowfall of up to five centimetres in places.

The freezing blast could make roads hazardous, spark major travel disruption and heighten the risk of slips and falls.

North Yorkshire Police told motorists to avoid the A171 near Whitby after multiple vehicles became stranded in the snow.

Heavy snowfall has already forced dozens of schools to shut across Wales, Devon, Cornwall and Northern Ireland.

Meanwhile, 190 Scottish schools and nurseries were closed in Aberdeenshire due to the heavy snow.

Adverse conditions even prompted the UK Health Security Agency to issue a series of yellow and amber alerts.

The North East, North West and Yorkshire & Humber have all been hit with amber alerts.

Amber alerts mean there will likely be a rise in deaths, an increase in demand for health services, a drop in temperatures at hospitals and staffing issues due to travel delays.

Meanwhile, yellow alerts will likely result in a rise in deaths, increased demand for remote healthcare services, issues for delivery services and challenges keeping indoor temperatures at the recommended level of 18C.

All of the health alerts remain in place until 8am on November 22.

In its wider forecast for this morning, the Met Office said: "Dry and clear inland tonight but wintry showers continuing across coastal areas, though becoming less frequent and heavy except along North Sea coasts.

"A cold night for all with a widespread frost, and icy stretches on any damp untreated surfaces."

Looking ahead to the rest of Friday, the service added: "A frosty start will lead to a cold but bright day although sunshine turning increasingly hazy. Thicker cloud and outbreaks of rain arriving into the northwest later."

However, the Met Office has also suggested conditions could become increasingly unsettled as Britons prepare for the festive period.

"Areas of cloud and showers affecting many eastern coastal counties at first, whilst showers in the far north could turn wintry for a time," the Met Office has said in its forecast from November 25 to December 4.

"Elsewhere, trending drier, a little cooler, and more settled as high pressure builds across from the Atlantic; these conditions are likely to steadily spread to all areas mid-next week.

"However, this settled interlude doesn't look like it will last too long, as cloud and rain bearing Atlantic systems arrive heralding a trend back towards more changeable, or even unsettled conditions.

"Towards the end of the period, an increasing chance of more settled spells once again, although confidence is very low by this point.

"Initially starting cold, temperatures should rise as the Atlantic weather systems arrive, and will probably more often be above average than below."