After the floods - it’s going to snow tonight

A cold snap will grip much of England throughout the weekend, with forecasters warning of hazardous driving conditions.

Leeds City Council has said its gritting team will be out in force tonight on primary routes around the city from 8pm.

The Met Office has said a band of rain, sleet and snow will move south across northern and eastern Scotland this afternoon, reaching Yorkshire and north east England at night.

The snow will mainly affect higher ground at first, but by Friday night up to four centimetres could fall at lower levels.

Forecasters warned: “Wintry showers will spread to many northern areas in particular and night frosts will become much more widespread.”

Chris Hogan, from MeteoGroup, said Friday will deliver blustery showers, but the conditions will deteriorate into Saturday morning.

He said: “Early on Saturday, you’re looking at temperatures pretty much near zero or one across the whole country - particularly in the east, the east will be the coldest.”

There will be a drop-off in minimum temps of up to five degrees.

Icy wind gusts of 60-70mph will whip much of central and southern Britain from this evening, making things noticeably colder.

The Met Office said: “Please be aware of the likelihood of some difficult driving conditions and possible travel disruption.”

Mr Hogan said many councils may have to consider gritting, especially in northern England and Scotland.

He said: “In the south, everyone’s going to notice how cold it is with a chance, anywhere in the east, of maybe a few flakes of Wintry stuff falling.”

The cold snap will last into Sunday, however the winds will become westerly from the beginning of next week and things should become more bearable.

Mr Hogan said: “This cold snap is probably not going to last too long, but obviously it’s late November - it’s not like it’s going to become tropical.”