Forecasters have warned of heavy snow in the coming days as a cold snap could lead to temperatures plunging as low as -15°C.

The Met Office has put three days of yellow weather warnings in place across Scotland, Northern Ireland and northern England for snow, ice and rain.

Up to 16 inches of snow could fall and temperatures could drop to -6°C in England – and even lower in Scotland – as a blizzard hits the UK.

The weather warning starts in the very north of the Isles from 4pm today and slowly moves down the country over the coming days, with the ice and snow warnings being replaced with warnings for rain by Wednesday.

But in the north of Scotland warnings for snow continue right through until the weekend.

At first the forecaster predicted ‘severe’ alerts across the country due to the Artic freeze – but has since downgraded these.

Chief meteorologist for the Met Office, Steven Ramsdale, said: ‘We see further weather fronts bringing rain and snow east and north across the UK, but the most significant event in the forecast is a feature from late Monday evening, which threatens to bring rain and some snow across large parts of the UK.

‘As it moves further north and meets the colder air, the rainfall will readily turn to snow or even freezing rain, affecting a large part of England and Wales north of the M4 corridor.

‘Yellow weather warnings have been issued for Tuesday and Wednesday highlighting the risk of disruptive snowfall with the high ground of northern England and Scotland most likely to see the largest snow accumulations.

‘The risk of freezing rain will be an additional threat across parts of eastern Wales and parts of the Midlands.’

The warning said some roads may be affected by flooding, spray or snow, leading to longer journey times.

Some communities living on higher ground in the affected areas of England and Scotland could be cut off by heavy snow.

People are also warned of a chance of injuries from slipping on icy surfaces, with some pavements and cycle paths potentially becoming difficult to navigate.

There is a further risk of power cuts and disruption to mobile phone coverage, the Met Office added.

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