Why has there been snow in some places and rain in others?published at 10:58 Greenwich Mean Time 6 January

10:58 GMT 6 January

Ben Rich
Lead Weather Presenter

This has been a classic snow-making scenario for the UK.

A collision between cold Arctic air and mild, moist air flowing from the tropics provides the two ingredients needed for snow – cold air and moisture.

But, it also makes forecasting snow tricky because only a small shift in the dividing line between the two air masses can mean snow turns back to rain, or vice versa.

The contrast between the two air masses that have clashed over the last couple of days has been stark and can be illustrated by Sunday night’s temperatures -13.3°C (8.1F) in parts of Highland Scotland compared to 11.4°C (52.2F) in south-east England.

That is why some places have seen disruption from snow and ice while others have had to contend with heavy rain and flooding.

Leicestershire Police says it is experiencing a "high volume of calls relating to flooding".

The force says the most severely affected areas include Melton, Rutland and south Leicestershire. There are flood alerts in place for parts of Charnwood too.

A force spokesperson said: "We are working with colleagues from partner agencies to respond accordingly.

"We would ask that you only contact us about flooding if there is an immediate threat to life."

Further to that post from Nicky - more schools and colleges in northern England have been closed due to the bad weather.

Oldham Council says seven sites had been shut. Elsewhere in Lancashire, a school in Cheadle Hulme and a sixth form college in Bolton have also closed their doors.

Over in North Yorkshire, 12 schools and have been closed, including Harrogate Grammar School.

As we've reported, hundreds of schools are closed across Lancashire and West Yorkshire, plus 100 in north-east Scotland.

Nicky Schiller
Reporting from Burnley

I'm in Burnley in Lancashire, outside one of the more than a dozen schools in the town that are shut because of the snow and ice.

There are many more shut across the county and indeed in Yorkshire, which I drove through to get here.

You can see why the authorities didn't want to take any risks with infant and primary school children - the playground and roads around here are still covered in snow. I saw a couple of children almost slip on the pavement.

It does mean a snow day for kids - but it gives parents, who may have been heading back to work after the Christmas break, a bit of a nightmare over who can look after them.

Around 100 schools across the north-east of Scotland are shut today because to the wintry conditions.

That's an update from our earlier figure of 80.

Driving conditions have been hazardous in many parts of the country, with a yellow Met Office warning for snow and ice still in place.

In Aberdeenshire and Moray thousands of children, along with their teachers, have been told to stay at home.

Several schools opened late, and pupil transport was badly affected, with many operators not prepared to take the risk.

The snow gates were closed over the Cairn o Mount in Aberdeenshire, and Stagecoach suspended a number of its services.

Carol Kirkwood looks at what the weather holds for the rest of the week:

We've just received these pictures of flooding in Yalding in Kent, from this morning.

There are currently 165 flood warnings from the Environment Agency across England - including one on the River Medway between Yalding and Maidstone, and another in the nearby Little Venice Country Park and Marina.

Image source, PA Media

Image source, PA Media

Image source, PA Media

Image source, Getty Images

As if the wintry weather has not been enough, an earthquake was felt in the UK last night.

A 2.9 magnitude earthquake in a remote part of Lochaber was felt across parts of western Scotland.

The epicentre was in Kinloch about 30km (19 miles) north west of Oban. The British Geological Survey (BGS) recorded the tremor just before 20:45 on Sunday., external

It was felt in Strontian and across to the island of Mull, Oban and surrounding villages, but was not powerful enough to cause damage.

Read more here.

Thomas Mackintosh
Live reporter

Image source, PA Media

Commuters are suffering travel disruption today, with major roads closed and railway lines blocked - let's bring you the latest:

• Manchester Airport was forced to shut its two runways for the second time in two days after "heavy" snow
• Both runways have reopened - but the airport has warned passengers may still experience delays
• On the railways flooding has blocked lines between Leicester and Peterborough and Nottingham and Grantham
• A tree has fallen on a line in Kent affecting Southeastern trains between Dover Priory and Canterbury West
• National Rail says poor weather is also hitting services in south-west England and North Wales - see our previous post for more details
• The M25 has been closed anti-clockwise in Surrey after a lorry toppled over in the early hours of the morning - disruption is set to continue through the day
• Elsewhere, the M5 remains shut southbound between Junction 11a near Gloucester and Junction 12
• Finally, across Yorkshire and Lancashire more than 200 schools have been closed, while another 80 are closed in north-east Scotland

It's been a bad morning for many commuters - here's a list of some of the major weather-related disruption, via National Rail:

• Disruption between Bristol Parkway and Gloucester expected until 12:00
• Disruption to/from Stratford-upon-Avon expected until 12:00
• Buses replace trains between Llandudno Junction and Blaenau Ffestiniog
• Buses replace trains between Hooton and Chester / Ellesmere Port
• Disruption between Nottingham and Grantham
• Disruption between Peterborough and Leicester

• Poor weather may affect Merseyrail and Northern services

National Rail say that Great Western Railway, ScotRail and TransPennine Express services are not currently affected by the weather, but you should still check before travelling.

Image source, PA Media

The cold and wet weather is not just affecting the UK - In Ireland, tens of thousands of homes and businesses are without water and electricity.

The Irish Electricity Supply Board (ESB) says 41,000 homes and businesses remain without power, warning it may take days to restore supply.

Irish water authority Uisce Eireann says a similar number of people did not have access to water after heavy snow in the south-west region.

More than 80 schools in north-east Scotland are closed after overnight snow and ice.

Schools and nurseries across Aberdeenshire, Moray and Highland council areas are shut due to snow and poor driving conditions, coinciding with the first day back for after the holidays.

Heavy snow has also caused hundreds of schools to close across parts of Lancashire and Yorkshire in England, as we reported earlier.

Image source, ht247 / BBC Weather Watchers

Image source, Tone Poet / BBC Weather Watchers

National Resources Wales has issued three flood warnings - meaning flooding is expected - and 34 flood alerts, meaning flooding is possible.

Emergency services in north Wales are responding to incidents of flooding this morning, including in the Oakenholt area in Flintshire.

Elsewhere in the UK, there are no flood alerts or warnings in place in Scotland or in Northern Ireland.

But, in England the number of flood warnings has risen to 175 and the amount of flood warnings in place has gone up to 303.

We've just has these pictures from Studfold in the Yorkshire Dales, north-west of Harrogate.

Image source, PA Media

Image source, PA Media

Coldest night of the winter so far - but there's a north-south dividepublished at 08:31 Greenwich Mean Time 6 January

08:31 GMT 6 January

Simon King
BBC weather presenter and meteorologist

With the temperature falling to minus 13.3°C (8F) in Loch Glascarnoch in Scotland, it was the coldest night of the winter so far.

But, while many northern areas of the UK were under the cold Arctic air with temperatures widely below freezing, in the south-east, it was a much milder night.

At St James’ Park, London, the overnight temperature only fell to 11.4°C (52.5F) - and that is 24.7°C degrees higher than the temperature in Scotland.

The colder Arctic air returns to southern areas today so that through the rest of the week there’ll be some hard and widespread frosts.

Simon King
BBC weather presenter and meteorologist

Heavy snow is currently hitting parts of the north Midlands, north Wales, northern England and into Scotland.

Meanwhile, there is a distinct point at which it’s actually heavy rain falling in the south-east Midlands, eastern and southern England.

Here is the latest radar map as of 08:00 GMT.

Image source, BBC Weather

Ian Shoesmith
Reporting from Macclesfield

Like many commuters on this wintry Monday morning, I decided to allow plenty of extra time for my journey to work.

Best laid plans and all that... things did not augur well when I skidded twice within just 200 yards of leaving my house in Macclesfield, Cheshire.

We live just off a main road, which is usually gritted when snow or ice are forecast. This may well have been done overnight, but heavy fresh snow in recent hours has still rendered many routes treacherous.

After about 20 minutes, during which I'd negotiated barely two of the 25 miles to our newsroom at Media City in Salford, it was time to admit defeat, turn around, and fire up the laptop at home.

For those lucky enough to have this option, it would appear very sensible.

Image source, Ian Shoesmith / BBC

Image source, Glynn B / BBC WEATHER WATCHERS

Snowfall has caused dozens of schools to close today across parts of Lancashire and Yorkshire.

According to Bradford City Council, external, there are currently 176 school closures in its area. Those that are open will do so at 10:00 GMT to allow families and staff time to travel safely, the authority adds.

There are also school closures in Calderdale, Halifax, Kirkless, and Leeds.

Lancashire County Council also has a full list of school closures on its website, external - currently covering areas including Burnley, Chorley and Rossendale.

An hour ago, we reported the Environment Agency had issued 146 flood warnings in England.

That number has now risen to 166 - see below for the latest map.

Image source, Environment Agency

Further to our earlier round-up, here's some of the latest disruption on the railways today:

• Great Western Railway says trains between Bristol Parkway and Gloucester are running at a reduced speed because of "heavy rain flooding the railway"
• Severe weather is causing the same issue for TransPennine services between Barnetby and Scunthorpe in Lincolnshire
• A fallen tree is blocking the line between Blaenau Ffestiniog and Llandudno Junction in north Wales
• The line between Wrexham and Shrewsbury is closed because of a landslip in the Gobowen area
• Finally, flooding means services between Manchester and north Wales are only able to operate between Warrington Bank Quay and Manchester