Shivering Brits were urged to “be prepared” for snow and ice chaos today, with a week of cold weather setting in.
Experts warned the extreme conditions could put thousands of lives at risk – particularly the elderly, very young and ill.
Wintry blasts already hit the North West today, with thundersnow – thunder storms with snow – lashing Manchester.
And forecasters predict the white stuff will spread across the country, with some parts expected to get up to 10cm tomorrow and Sunday.
A level three cold alert, one below a national emergency, was triggered today in the North and Midlands and will stay in place until Tuesday.
The Met Office said temperatures could drop to -6C – or 21F – in rural areas.
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A car sliding on the A666, as roads turned to ice rinks in Lancashire
Age UK warned the weather could spark thousands of “excess winter deaths”, and warned the cold caused heart attacks, strokes and breathing problems.
The charity’s Caroline Abrahams said: “This winter, one older person could die every seven minutes from the cold. With just under a million older people in fuel poverty, many cannot afford to heat their homes.”
A snow and ice warning has been issued today for the North West, Midlands, West Country, London, Wales and Scotland.
The Weather Channel UK’s Leon Brown warned: “Be prepared for snow and ice this weekend and next week wherever you are.”
He said tomorrow could bring “5cm to 10cm over high parts of Mid Wales, and the West Midlands to Staffordshire” as well as 2cm to 5cm in Derbyshire.
Jonathan Pow/jp@jonathanpow.com
Thunder-snow and hail lashed down in Darwen this morning
He added: “On Sunday there is a snow risk for South East England. Higher parts of Kent to Sussex may see snow, with 5 to 10cm.”
He said 2 to 5cm could be dumped on the North East on Sunday, and predicted more snow across the West, North West and Central Britain throughout the week.
Up to 10cm is expected in the Pennines tonight, with temperatures in Birmingham and Bradford at -4C and London down to -3C.
The Met Office’s Nicky Maxey said: “Icy roads are likely to make for difficult driving conditions in many areas. Colder conditions could stay for most of next week.”
There was already hell on the roads today as drivers in Darwen, Lancs, battled the snow, and black ice sparked a pile-up at Cefn-coed-y-cymmer, South Wales.
However, locals in rural Martindale, in the Lake District, woke to beautiful wintery scenes.
