Unexpected heavy snow has paralysed parts of Devon, with drivers on the A30 urged to take particular caution.

Flurries of snow have spread across Dartmoor, and the village of Okehampton seems to have peen particularly hard-hit, with locals taking to Twitter to show off views of the South West’s first proper snow of the winter.

Commuters in the area have been warned to watch out for dangerous driving conditions. The warning, which is provisionally in place from 5pm until 11.59pm on Wednesday, initially covered Somerset and Wales, but the Met Office has recently updated the warning to Devon.

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With current low temperatures, the snowfall ie expected to settle up to a depth of 2cm. It’s already a shade below freezing in Minehead, with temperatures set to drop further as night draws on.

A yellow weather warning is in place for much of the county this evening, with the Met Office warning localised flooding as snow turns to freezing rain in some parts of the county.

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Delighted locals have been posting pictures of fields blanketed in snow and the county's famous ponies shivering as flakes of snow cling to their manes.

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The Met Office says temperatures could dip below 0ºC in the South West overnight, giving Devon and Cornwall an icy start tomorrow.

The current Met Office forecast for south west England is as follows:

Today:

Blustery showers will continue throughout the day in the west. The east, however, should see plenty of sunny spells throughout the morning but perhaps clouding over during the afternoon. Maximum temperature 9 °C.

Tonight:

Overnight, the showers will continue across the region, but the east may see some clear skies during the early hours, leading to a touch of frost in rural areas. Minimum temperature 0 °C.

While Devon is getting a fair sprinkling of snow, neighbours in Cornwall are less likely to see any of the white stuff just yet.

Met Office, meteorologist Steven Keates, explains that because Cornwall is surrounded by sea, the Duchy's weather extremes are strongly affected by sea temperatures.

“The reason Cornwall gets a lot less snow than many other part of the country is because it’s quite mild in winter,” he said.

“Cornwall is surrounded by quite warm sea relatively close to the land, which is why it doesn’t get particularly cold during the winter compared to other places which are inland.

“The sea is the moderating factor and is why Cornwall's climate is less extreme.”

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