The UK is bracing to be hammered by a 48-hour snow storm as freezing weather and ice continues to cause chaos throughout the country.
The Met Office has issued dozens of snow and ice warnings this week, with the trecherous conditions grounding flights, closing roads and shutting dozens of schools.
But any hope of respite from the snow looks short-lived with new weather maps from WXCHARTS showing the snowy conditions are set to continue for the rest of the week.
On Wednesday at around at 3pm, maps show snow will hit Scotland, the north of England, Wales and parts of the south coast.
Maps show some parts of Scotland could see up to 25cm of snow with some regions in the north of England seeing as much as 10cm of snow. By 9pm, this could increase to around 20cm of snow in the north of England.
The only areas which will not see snow are the east of England, and most of the east midlands.
On Thursday, snow continues to fall in central Scotland. Weather maps turn purple elsewhere with depths of 21cm in the far north, and snow still on the ground in southern England.
By Friday at 3pm, huge swathes of the UK will again be covered with snow with only some parts of the east coast to be spared.
Met Office Chief Forecaster Jason Kelly said: “With cold weather persisting across the UK this week we have a number of severe weather warnings for wintry hazards.
“Snow showers will continue to fall over Scotland, Northern Ireland and into Northern Wales and northern England too. Where surface water and snow freeze overnight there is a risk of ice as temperatures widely dip below freezing.
“There will however be good spells of sunshine for those away from northern coasts, though it’ll still feel cold in the northerly breeze.”
“Cloudier in the far west, with patchy rain and snow possible. Frosty nights.”
The Met Office also warned that on Wednesday afternoon, “there is the chance of some snowfall in parts of southern England for a time”.
Mr Kelly continued: “Weather conditions will start to change from the southwest on Wednesday, with fronts from the Atlantic bringing milder air along with moisture. As this moisture encounters the cold air, snowfall is expected particularly over higher ground and away from the coast.
“However, there is still uncertainty about how far north these fronts will reach. They could either skirt the south or move into southern England.”
Looking ahead to later in the week, Deputy Chief Forecaster Chris Almond said: “Thursday will see another cold night, with potentially the lowest temperatures of the Winter so far, -15°C or so is possible in locations with lying snow in Scotland or northern England.
“In the early hours of Friday, a front arriving from the west will encounter the cold air in place over the UK. This could bring further sleet or snowfall for some regions in the south and west, as well as a risk of ice for a time as it moves north-eastwards into central parts, but the extent of this is still uncertain.”
This comes after snow and ice has caused mass disruption across the UK with flights, roads, trainlines and schools impacted by the weather.
From 5pm today (Tuesday 7 January) until 12 noon on Wednesday, the Met Office has issued a yellow alert for ice.
The alert is spread across several counties and areas in the Midlands, northern England and Wales, and covers six major UK cities including York, Leeds, Sheffield, Manchester, Liverpool and Stoke-on-Trent.