Arctic winds bring rush-hour snow storm alert for drivers as the cold snap continues

Winter weather began its sweep across Britain today with treacherous conditions on roads as Arctic conditions began to grip the country.

Scotland was the first place to be hit by icy weather this morning with heavy snow blanketing much of the north of the country and black ice on many roads. Up to two inches of snow is expected to fall in the Midlands and North West in just an hour.

Spokesman John Hammond said the weather would stay cold and wet until the weekend when temperatures would start to creep up to double figures.

'We could well have a couple of centimetres of snow fall in an hour or two and it will come at a time when a lot of people are heading off to work between 6am and 8am,' he said.

'It's not going to last long, but it will be heavy enough for a covering of snow in quite a few places, particularly on higher ground.'

Although other parts of Britain are likely to get rain instead of snow, temperatures will remain chilly, rarely getting above 5c (41f) or 6c (43f) away from the coast he said. (Source: Daily Mail)