Cold, mostly dry and bright weather continuing

Cold, mostly dry and bright weather continuing

Bright, cold and sunny weather for the rest of this week, with widespread overnight frosts and some wintry showers

Much of the UK will see fine and dry but cold weather continuing into the weekend. High pressure and clear skies will allow plenty of sunshine by day and cold, frosty nights.

However, the last week of the meteorological winter also looks like delivering some wintry showers in places which will lead to icy patches overnight as temperatures fall sharply under clear skies, leading to severe frosts too.

Some wintry showers are expected with northern and western parts of the UK most likely to see wintry showers with any showers in the south more isolated. A mixture of rain, hail, sleet and snow can be expected near coasts, while inland, especially over any hills, snow is more likely, leading to a slight covering in places.

Severe weather warnings have been issued for both snow and ice to advise of the risk of difficult driving conditions and disruption to travel. It's a good idea to check the UK forecast before you travel so that you are aware of any severe weather which may affect your journey.

Chief Operational Meteorologist Neil Armstrong said: "there will be plenty of fine, dry weather over the coming days with long sunny spells, but it will be cold with frosts expected overnight. Also, for some parts of the UK, there will be wintry showers which may lead to icy patches overnight and perhaps lead to some tricky travelling conditions, so it's worth checking the forecast before travelling."