Snow and ice weather warnings as temperature drops

The Met Office has told drivers the poor weather could cause delays

Forecasts for snow and ice have prompted yellow weather warnings across parts of northern England.

The Met Office said poor weather conditions were due from 05:00 GMT on Tuesday until 18:00 on Thursday.

Snow and rain in hilly areas of Cumbria and the North East is expected to freeze, leading to icy conditions on Tuesday, before snowy showers hit the east coast on Wednesday.

BBC weather presenter Paul Mooney said the change in temperature had been caused by colder winds hitting the country.

"We've gone from the warm, wet southerly winds of the first half of November, to colder, clearer northerlies for this week, with temperatures dropping from well above the seasonal average to well below," he said.

Wednesday's weather warning covers the Northumberland coast down to Hull.

Snow is expected to settle across the region but will be deeper on higher ground

The Met Office said 2-5cm (0.8-2in) of snow would be possible at low levels, with 5-10cm (2-5in) on hills higher than 100m (328ft).

"Some fairly strong gusts could be associated with the showers and some isolated lightning strikes are possible at times," it said.

"Where showers persist and/or snow partially thaws and then refreezes overnight, this will bring a risk of ice."

A yellow warning for snow and ice is also in place across Scotland.

The weather service warned the public the weather could cause travel delays, power cuts and impact mobile phone coverage.

It has advised drivers to check their cars before travelling, plan routes ahead of time and to check for delays and road closures.

The latest warnings are available on the BBC website and on the BBC Weather App.