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Temperatures 'will keep falling' in the UK

Eastern areas, including the Essex coast, are set to get more snow

Heavy snow and icy conditions are again predicted to be concentrated in the east of the UK and the Midlands, later on Wednesday and into Thursday.

The Met office has issued severe warnings alerting people to icy roads and snow across swathes of the country.

Schools across North East England, Lincolnshire, Kent and Scotland have been closed because of the weather.

Thursday morning's rush hour is likely to be affected in those areas, said the Met Office.

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Western parts of the Britain will get the lightest snow falls, with about 2cm expected in the 24 hours to mid Thursday.

The central swathe of the mainland will get up to 5cm, causing widespread hazards, the BBC Weather Centre forecast.

And areas along the eastern side will bear the brunt of the wintry weather with more than 5cm, and possibly up to 15cm on high ground along the Pennines.

Widespread ice on untreated roads and "very poor visibility" during heavy snow showers would make driving conditions dangerous, the Met Office warned.

The Highways Agency, which looks after motorways and trunk roads in England, said it would be gritting roads overnight into Thursday.

It has advised drivers to be extra vigilant and to delay journeys if bad weather persists.

Up to 5cm of snow fell in Edinburgh overnight into Wednesday, with heavy falls also settling over Kent, Norfolk and Lincolnshire.

In parts of eastern Scotland thousands of pupils had an unexpected day off as hundreds of schools were closed on Wednesday, mostly in Aberdeenshire, Fife, Angus and Midlothian.

Plunging temperatures

In Neatishead, Norfolk a gritter lorry crashed through the wall of a pub on Wednesday morning, causing extensive damage.

A gritter hit a Norfolk pub, causing extensive damage

Heavy snow in Paris caused travel problems for dozens of Welsh rugby fans after their flights to Charles de Gaulle airport were cancelled.

They will now travel by Eurostar to watch the Six Nations clash between Wales and France on Saturday.

Southern England has seen some of the worst travel problems, with train passengers enduring delays and cancellations to London-bound services.

Thirty vehicles were involved in an accident on the M2 in Kent on Wednesday morning which closed the road.

Police said no one was seriously injured, but several people were trapped in their cars.