Britons brace for coldest evening of this winter to this point with mercury predicted to plunge to -12C in some components on Arctic snap’s last day amid Met Office ice warnings

The UK is bracing for what could be the coldest night of this winter so far, with forecasters warning temperatures may plunge to a brutal -12C. 

Large swathes of the country were already below freezing on Friday morning, with the Met Office saying parts of England and Wales could dip to around –7C as an Arctic blast tightens its grip. 

Scotland is expected to bear the brunt, where some communities may endure lows of –10C to –12C as the cold snap reaches its peak. 

Multiple yellow ice warnings remain in force across Scotland, Northern Ireland, the South West and the East of England, raising fears of hazardous roads, widespread travel disruption and a heightened risk of slips and falls. 

The North East is also on alert, with a fresh warning from midnight until midday on Friday, while East Anglia faces icy conditions until 11am. 

Cold weather health alerts issued by the UK Health Security Agency remain in place until Saturday.

Forecaster Simon Partridge said: ‘It does look like we will have the coldest night of this winter so far, widely areas are below freezing.

‘And the main reason for that is we’ve got a little ridge of high pressure moving across the UK overnight tonight and basically the main difference between that and previous nights is the winds are a lot lighter.’

A person walks in the snow in Newcastle early on Thursday morning amid whiteout conditions

Snowy conditions at Cullercoats in North Tyneside today as the wintry weather continues

Mr Partridge said that much of the country will see frost on Friday morning but that later in the day there is expected to be widespread sunshine.

He added: ‘Friday is really the end of the really cold weather as things turn back to average by the time we get into the weekend.’

It comes after hundreds of schools were forced to close in northern Scotland, while in Wales, 36 were closed in Pembrokeshire, 14 in Carmarthenshire and seven in Ceredigion. Roads were disrupted and homes were left without power because of snow.

Heavy snowfall shut dozens of schools across Devon, Cornwall and Northern Ireland, while widespread travel delays brought parts of the country to a standstill.

Drivers in the North East were hit hardest, with North Yorkshire Police urging motorists to avoid the A171 near Whitby after multiple vehicles became stranded in the snow. 

Officers also closed the A169 between Whitby and Pickering amid whiteout conditions.

National Rail urged rail commuters to check their journeys before travelling during the snowy and icy weather. 

In Scotland, 190 schools or nurseries across Aberdeenshire were closed due to the heavy snow, with temperatures colder than the Russian capital, while the A90 in Aberdeen was shut between Cleanhill and Stonehaven.

Meanwhile, more than 30 schools shut in Pembrokeshire, 14 in Carmarthenshire and seven in Ceredigion – while hundreds of properties in those areas of Wales also lost power.

Drifting conditions saw a spate of minor incidents across the north, with snow ploughs and gritters deployed to keep routes open as temperatures plummeted to below -6C.

Dundreggan, Inverness-shire, recorded the coldest overnight temperature on Thursday at -6.4C. In comparison the mercury in Russia’s capital Moscow only dipped to -3C.

Daytime temperatures only reached just above freezing at Loch Glascarnoch, near Garve, Ross-shire, which peaked at 1.1C.

And forecasters are predicting thermometers to dip to as low as -11C in some rural areas overnight.

A car driving through the snowy conditions at Cullercoats in North Tyneside

Heavy snowfall covers the landscape in the area around Liverton in North Yorkshire

People walking in the snowy conditions at Cullercoats in North Tyneside 

But the Arctic conditions are expected to be short-lived with temperatures across much of the country turning milder over the weekend.

The Met Office warned ‘we could drop to -11 C as an absolute low over snowfall across Scotland’.

But a spokesman said: ‘After a widespread frost overnight, the risk of snow diminishes as temperatures turn slightly milder [today]. Many areas will be dry and fine with long spells of sunshine.’