The Mercury hits -8C with snow falling across parts of UK

Parts of the UK are set to welcome in the New Year with snow and freezing temperatures as low as -8C overnight.

The Met Office have given warnings for ice and snow in Ireland, England and Scotland until 2pm, and the Southern tip of England has an ice warning in place until 11pm.

There are fears of travel disruption and power cuts on Thursday, along with the possibility of rapidly freezing surfaces after rain.

London was forecast for snow, but now, only ice is set to cover the capital, with bitterly cold winds and widespread frost to blanket most of the UK.

Met Office forecaster Clare Nasir said, “It’s going to be a bitterly cold night as temperatures plummet. It does lead into a very cold start to the last day of the year tomorrow, New Year’s Eve will bear with it again the risk of rain, sleet and snow, another feature sliding down the country from northern Scotland.

“Particularly inland and over the hills we will see some snow.

“Many of us will see some brighter weather, with still a keen breeze keeping things very cold indeed, and again the risk of ice as we head into New Year’s Day, with again a wintry mix coming and going, and a fairly widespread frost.”