Dozens of frost and snow images have been shared via the BBC Midlands Instagram account.

Ice is expected to cause travel disruption across the West Midlands this morning with some freezing fog patches also possible.

A yellow weather warning is in place for the whole of the region until 12:00., external

Shefali Oza
BBC Midlands Today

It will be a cold and cloudy day with patchy rain, sleet and snow and highs of 2°C (36°F)

A Met Office warning, external for snow and ice has been extended until the end of Friday.

Ice is expected to cause travel disruption across the West Midlands with some freezing fog patches also possible.

A yellow weather warning for snow and ice, external has been extended across the West Midlands.

Image source, Met Office

While ice is expected to be the most widespread hazard, snow is likely in places too, the Met Office says.

Freezing fog patches are also likely to persist and may prove an additional hazard.

The warning is in place from 14:00 today until midday on Friday.

Shefali Oza
BBC Midlands Today

It will be a cold, bright day with some bright spells and the odd snow flurry is possible towards evening.

Temperatures will get up to about 1°C (34°F).

One hospital boss said a two-week "lag" meant things could get worse before they get better.

A yellow warning for ice will be in place from tomorrow for large parts of Staffordshire and Shropshire.

The Met Office warning, external will start on Thursday at 17:00 and last until 11:00 on Friday morning.

Image source, Met Office

Temperatures could fall as low as -4C (24.8) causing icy stretches and slippery surfaces, the Met Office said.

As lockdown 3.0 officially starts today, the latest figures from Public Health England show just why more severe measures are being introduced.

Every local authority area in the West Midlands saw a rise in Covid-19 cases in the week up to 1 January.

Shropshire, while still having among the fewest cases in the region, saw its rate of new infections increase almost three-fold in just a week.

Walsall, Nuneaton and Bedworth, Worcester, Wyre Forest, North Warwickshire, Tamworth and Telford all saw their number of new cases more than double over the same period.

Wolverhampton, which has the highest rate in the West Midlands, saw it rise from 419.6 per 100,000 people (in the week up to 25 December) to 772.3.

Sandwell, Walsall, Birmingham, Dudley and South Staffordshire all saw their rates climb over 550 per 100,000 people.

BBC Weather

A dull morning with the odd shower around before they mainly clear away this afternoon with the chance of a sunny spell later. High: 4C (39F).

Clear spells to start tonight leading to a widespread frost. By the early hours, fog is expected to develop for many places. Low: -2C (28F).

You can stay up-to-date with the latest forecast for your area by going to the BBC Weather website.

"We want to be there when restrictions are lifted," says one business owner.

Local Democracy Reporting Service
Alex Moore

There were 18 outbreaks of Covid-19, including one “serious incident” involving 60 people, at Shropshire’s hospitals in December, a report has found.

Nursing director of the Shrewsbury and Telford Hospital NHS Trust, Hayley Flavell, found 98 staff and 174 patients were affected by outbreaks across both hospitals in December.

Public Health England defines an outbreak as a case where two or more confirmed or suspected coronavirus cases can be associated with a specific location.

Ms Flavell says new measures, including more frequent screening of patients and separate wash facilities for those with Covid-19, have been introduced in response.

The report will be discussed at a meeting of the trust's board on Thursday.

Heritage attractions are in "jeopardy" amid a shortage of English coal, industry warns.

Joanne Gallacher
Political reporter, BBC Radio Shropshire

An MP says closing schools will be "hugely damaging" for young people.

Under plans announced by the prime minister last night, schools will be shut to most pupils until at least February half term.

Lucy Allan, who represents Telford as a Conservative, called for support for families during a "struggle" she said was set to get "tougher".

In last night's announcement, the prime minister conceded that this summer's exams could now not go ahead in the normal way. Ms Allan said the impact of that would be “devastating” for those who'd been planning to resit tests this summer.

“Closing schools until half term will be hugely damaging to our young people, loss of structure, social interaction, and severe disruption to their education that inevitably will have a long term impact on their life chances," she said.

"Not every child has a structured family, organised home life, with parental support, access to learning materials and space to learn.

"It is imperative that every resource is thrown at our vaccination program to enable schools to resume in February and restrictions to ease.

"Families have already struggle so much and the next few weeks will be tougher. We must do everything to support families support their children at this extraordinary time.”

Boris Johnson will make a televised address at 20:00 GMT as No 10 says further steps must now be taken to address a surge in coronavirus cases.

Image source, PA Media

In the seven days to 30 December the rate of infection in the West Midlands was 389.9 per 100,000 population, up from 278.3 the previous week.

Wolverhampton has the highest rate in the region at 626.1, followed by Sandwell - 557.8 and Walsall - 488.

These areas, along with most of the West Midlands, are under tier four restrictions under which non-essential shops are closed and people can only leave their homes for a certain number of reasons.

Worcestershire and Shropshire are currently in tier three - very high alert - although rates in these areas are now running level with those places in tier four.

A race meeting at Ludlow in Shropshire has been abandoned tomorrow.

The course has been affected by frost in the ground.

The next scheduled race day is 21 January.

Sara Blizzard
BBC Weather

It will be a chilly day with the chance of showers and highs of 5°C (41°F).

The latest news, sport, travel and weather across the West Midlands and south Cheshire.

Chris Hunt ran about five miles a day every day to raise funds for St Giles Hospice.

Parts of Shropshire and Staffordshire could see travel disruption lasting into the afternoon due to ice and snow.

The Met Office has a yellow weather warning in place until 14:00., external

Image source, Met Office