People heading out on Sunday morning have been warned of a risk of icy conditions in parts of the country after Storm Deirdre swept through bringing heavy snow, freezing rain and gales.

The storm hit one of the last major shopping days before Christmas on Saturday, causing havoc on the roads and misery on the high street for retailers hoping for a festive sales boost.

A series of weather warnings is due to expire as Sunday morning progresses, with improved conditions expected later in the day, although some rain and wind are expected to persist.

Met Office forecaster Simon Partridge said: “Everywhere will be drier and much less windy on Sunday.

“Just be wary if you are heading out early, there could be some icy stretches in the north-east of England and Scotland. Other than that, just be aware if you are in England and Wales, there could be spells of rain and wind in the afternoon.

Traffic on the A9 at Drumochter on Saturday was slowed by heavy snow. Photograph: Peter Jolly/REX/Shutterstock

“If you didn’t head out to the shops yesterday, you could get most of it done today.”

Most the UK faced an onslaught of severe weather on Saturday with high winds, snow and heavy rain – some of it freezing.

The Met Office issued seven amber and yellow warnings that covered almost the entire UK apart from London and the south-east, which saw heavy rain. And it confirmed that freezing rain – a rare weather phenomenon – had been reported at Leeds Bradford airport, with worsening conditions expected.

Wind speeds reached up to 73mph, the maximum recorded at Altnaharra in the Scottish Highlands. Between 40 to 50cm of snow fell in the central highlands, the Met Office said.

Freezing rain can lead to the rapid build up of very slippery ice glazes that pose a risk to drivers and pedestrians. According to the Met Office, it occurs when rain falls through sub-zero temperature air to become supercooled and freeze “almost instantly” when it hits a cold surface. Supercooled water droplets can exist in a liquid state below zero Centigrade and occur in clouds in winter time.

Police forces across the country dealt with numerous reports of collisions triggered by icy conditions.

Storm Deirdre’s arrival was also a blow to retailers on what should been a major pre-Christmas shopping day.

Saturday footfall across UK high streets was down by 9.1% by 3pm, retail intelligence firm Springboard reported.

“If people are presented with really terrible weather, they then have the choice to shop online, and they can make other choices about what to do with their time,” said Diane Wehrle, Springboard marketing and insights director.

“That unfortunately offers them sometimes better alternatives than trailing around a town centre or a high street in freezing cold or rainy weather.”

Wehrle said while footfall appeared to have picked up for the early part of the week – with a year-on-year increase of 6.1% in high streets, shopping centres and retail parks – it was a false positive as snow last year meant figures were already low.

She said Saturday’s figures were “severely down” on last year, on what she described as a “peak trading weekend”.