Image source, PA Media

Councils have urged people to check on vulnerable members of their communities as temperatures fall and the cost of living crisis continues to bite.

The Local Government Association (LGA), which represents councils in England and Wales, warned that excess deaths rise even during a normal winter period, but that the rising cost of energy will leave many more people exposed to the cold.

They said those most at risk would include the elderly and people with respiratory conditions, circulatory disease or dementia.

The LGA added that many councils are using libraries and other local venues to provide warm spaces for those who need them - or to host sessions offering advice on debt management and saving money on bills.

Cllr David Fothergill, chairman of the body's Community Wellbeing Board, said: “As the cost of living has increased, we are concerned there will be more people this winter who may not be able to switch their heating on, putting them at greater risk from illness relating to the cold."

He added: “Although council teams will be stepping up their efforts to support people who are more isolated over the coming days, everyone should check up on their neighbours and anyone they know who may be more vulnerable to the cold. It could help save lives.”

Image source, Met Office

There is a yellow warning for ice and snow which currently covers northern Scotland with the cold spell set to last for 10 days.

A further yellow warning has been issued for northern Scotland from midnight on Tuesday until 12:00 on Thursday.

The Met Office is also warning of ice and fog around the Solway Firth in Dumfries and Galloway.

Last night temperatures plummeted to -15.7C in Braemar in Aberdeenshire on the coldest night of the year so far.

The conditions have led to some school closures in the Highlands and disruption to rail services.

Katy Austin
Transport correspondent

We're hearing of more disruption for travellers this week - aside from the current cold weather.

Members of the RMT union working at Network Rail have voted to reject an offer the organisation described as “best and final”, in an electronic referendum.

The RMT had recommended they reject it. 63.6% of those who voted chose to reject the Network Rail offer. Turnout was 83%.

Even if they had accepted it and pulled out of strikes, it would have been far too late to prevent disruption this week.

Network Rail’s offer was a 5% pay rise for 2022, 4% for 2023, plus other benefits like discounted travel.

But it also depends on big changes to working practices in its maintenance teams.

These would involve 1,900 job losses, but Network Rail has always insisted this could be achieved by voluntary means.

It has said there would be a guarantee of no compulsory redundancies until the end of January 2025.

Network Rail employs about half the RMT members in the rail dispute, the rest work for train companies - represented by the Rail Delivery Group in negotiations. Network Rail and the RMT have not had talks in the past week.

Read more here.

Find out the weather forecast for your area, with an hourly breakdown and a 14-day lookahead, by downloading the BBC Weather app: Apple , external- Android, external - Amazon, external

The BBC Weather app is only available to download in the UK.

The snow and ice that has caused travel disruption across the UK today is set to continue through tonight and into Tuesday.

The Met Office has said temperatures could fall even lower than the -15.7C (3.7F) recorded in Aberdeenshire last night, a record for this year so far.

Yellow warnings have been issued to cover northern Scotland and north-east England from midnight tonight until noon on Thursday.

Separate warnings apply in the Shetland Islands until midnight and in the southeast of England until 11:00 GMT tomorrow.

Met Office spokesman Oli Claydon said there will be heavy snow again on Tuesday, with as much as 15-20cms (5.9-7.8ins) accumulating on higher ground.

"In terms of temperature, we could see another very cold night, especially in parts of Scotland where we've got that lying snow," he said.

"[But it is also expected to be] very cold across the whole of the UK, with widespread freezing conditions."

Mr Claydon urged commuters to "leave a little bit more time" if driving and to travel with "a bit of extra caution".

Let's take a look at what some of the scenes sent in by our BBC Weather Watchers across England.

Image source, BBC/ Weather Watcher Michelle B

Image source, BBC/Weather Watcher Ian W

Image source, BBC/ Weather Watcher Don T

Image source, BBC / Weather Watcher Dammo

Image source, BBC / Weather Watcher Ian W

Image source, Getty Images

What can you do to help the most vulnerable during the first major cold snap of the year?

Here are some key points to know:

• Babies and children under five are more at risk in cold weather. The NHS advises that children should wear several layers of clothes to keep warm but importantly, babies do not need hot rooms at night - a room temperature of between 16-20C (61-68F) is ideal
• Over-65s and those who already have poor heart health are also at risk when temperatures drop dramatically. Keeping warm by wearing layers and eating well is important. More than 11 million pensioners are eligible for the Winter Fuel payment, external, which is worth between £250 and £600 this year

It's recommended for those struggling to pay the energy bills to heat living rooms during the day, and bedrooms before sleep. Keeping curtains closed also keeps heat in.

Read more here on practical ways to look after children, the elderly and even your pets.

Image source, PA Media

Scotland is on course to record its coldest December in over a decade after temperatures plummeted to -15.7C (3.7F) overnight in Aberdeenshire.

BBC Weather presenter Simon King said the temperature at Braemar made it the coldest since February 2021.

A yellow warning for ice and snow currently covers northern Scotland with the cold spell set to last for 10 days.

A further yellow warning has been issued for the same area from midnight on Tuesday until 12:00 GMT on Thursday.

Read more here.

Most yellow weather warnings for snow and ice have now been lifted by the Met Office across much of the UK, after they covered large parts of the country earlier in the day.

A yellow warning for ice is still in place until 11:00 GMT on Tuesday for parts of east England, London and the South East, and Northamptonshire in the east midlands.

Northern Ireland's six counties have a yellow warning for ice and fog, which is in place until 10:00 tomorrow.

And in the Shetland Islands there's a yellow warning for snow and ice in place until midnight.

This is set to be replaced by yet another yellow warning for snow and ice from midnight, covering larger parts of Scotland as well as north-east England and Yorkshire and Humber.

You can find out more about the latest weather warning updates here, external.

With temperatures dipped to nearly -16C in north-east Scotland, the risk of a burst pipe increases.

"It's a terrible thing to happen to anyone," Scottish Water's Kes Juskowiak told the BBC's Good Morning Scotland programme and he offered the following advice on what to do if you wake up to a burst pipe:

• The first thing to do is isolate the water supply, via the stopcock
• The stockcock is usually found in the pavement outside your house or underneath the sink in your property
• Turn off the water supply
• Call a plumber

• Many boilers have frost protection built in which kicks in at 5C or 10C.
• The cheapest protection is lagging your pipes and putting a blanket around your water tank
• Get someone to check on your property if you are going away or drain your water from the system

The cold weather is set to continue for the rest of the week, says BBC Weather presenter Carol Kirkwood.

Image source, Getty Images

Some 7,500 drivers have broken down and called the RAC due to the freezing temperatures, the roadside assistance company says.

This is "some 50% more than we’d expect on a typical Monday in December", it said in a statement.

“Drivers should only drive if conditions allow and they feel confident enough to do so, sticking to main routes where possible as these are more likely to be well gritted.

Meanwhile in north-east London last night, Louisa Harrison, Liam Cain and their three-year-old son managed to escape the snow-covered M11 and M25 thanks to their 4x4.

Earlier, we reported that National Grid had asked the power station operator Drax to start warming up two coal-fired plants in North Yorkshire to generate electricity to deal with rising demand during the cold snap.

The theory is the plants would help keep the lights on if the UK couldn't get enough electricity from Europe.

The good news is that National Grid has told Drax to cool its jets, so to speak, and supplies are OK for now.

But National Grid will go ahead with testing a scheme where households with smart metres will be paid for cutting electricity use during peak times between 17:00 and 19:00.

Basically, people could save money if they hold off doing things like running the washing machine when demand is high.

Read more here.

Back now to the travel disruption caused by the cold weather, and we have some information about what travel is likely to be like later on today.

On the rail network, external, disruption caused by the weather to Southern and Thameslink services is expected to last until the end of the day. Customers are advised to only travel if "absolutely necessary" and to expect delays.

The Gatwick Express has been suspended altogether, though the airport is still being served by Southern and Thameslink.

Southeastern has lifted earlier advice not to travel today, but is still asking people to check for the latest updates before they set off.

On the London underground network, external, as of 13.30, severe delays continue on the Central, Hammersmith & City, Jubilee, and Northern lines, as well as parts of the Piccadilly and Overground lines, while there are minor delays on the District, Metropolitan, Victoria and Tram lines.

On the roads, National Highways, external, which maintains motorways and major A roads in England, is not currently reporting any major incidents on its network.

Traffic Scotland, external, the equivalent body for Scotland, reports ice affecting driving conditions in the regions of Strathclyde, Lothian and Borders, Central, Tayside & Fife, the Cairngorms National Park, and the Southwest.

The whole community in the area where three boys died after falling into a frozen lake is "in shock", the local MP has said.

Saqib Bhatti, who represents the Solihull constituency of Meriden, was speaking to the BBC before the police and fire services news conference from near the site where the incident occurred.

"It's just a great tragedy," he said. "I think the whole community is in shock. I've been talking to residents this morning.

"It's just hard to put into words right now what I'm feeling... as a parent. The whole community's going to be feeling this and my heart goes out to the families of those young children and my thoughts and prayers are with them.

“Part of me was still waiting for some good news. It’s just very sad.”

Paying tribute to the emergency workers who attended the scene, he said: “They were amazing.

"Trust me, I’ve been out there for an hour and a half now. It is so cold. And they’ve been out there all night doing this. My hat goes off to them.”

David Wallace Lockhart
BBC political correspondent

Back to the events in Solihull now, and the prime minister's official spokesman has said the news of the deaths of three boys after falling into an icy lake near Solihull is "tragic" and "devastating".

The spokesman said Rishi Sunak's thoughts were with affected families and that he wanted to thank the emergency services for their work.

As we've been reporting, many airports around the UK have been experiencing delays and cancellations today due to the snow and icy weather. But what's the latest on the chaos for plane passengers?

According to the website FlightAware, external, which tracks worldwide airport delays, at around 13:15 GMT the worst affected major UK airports (using departure and arrival delay times) were:

• Manchester: departures - more than one hour / arrivals - 47 minutes
• Edinburgh: departures - 51 minutes / arrivals - 55 minutes
• Stansted: arrivals - more than one hour
• Gatwick: departures - 39 minutes
• Heathrow: departures - 36 minutes

In terms of cancellations, a total of 146 departures have been cancelled from UK airports as of 12:20 today, according to travel data company Cirium.

Looking at the numbers in more detail reveals:

• Heathrow Airport has seen the highest number of cancellations so far, with 50 departures axed
• Stansted Airport is currently the most affected airport, with 42 departures cancelled – 20% of Monday total
• Gatwick has had 34 flights cancelled, while Manchester has called off five
• Outside of England the picture is looking a bit better, with 11 cancellations at Glasgow airport and just one from Belfast

Image source, Reuters

We'll bring you more from Solihull on the sad deaths of the three boys as soon as we get it, but we've also been reporting throughout the morning on how heavy snow and icy conditions have brought delays and cancellations to transport across the country.

Today had been one of the few days in the coming weeks on which trains were expected to run as normal, with strikes set to hit services in the build up to and after Christmas.

Here's a calendar showing when action is set to affect services over the next month.