Snow on the M6 near the village of Shap in Cumbria as up to 10cm of snow could fall on higher ground as temperatures drop across large parts of the UK this week

Bitterly cold temperatures hit Britain and a blanket of snow swept across the country on Tuesday, causing schools to close and widespread travel disruption.

The Met Office put severe weather warnings for snow and ice across most of the UK into Wednesday morning. Meteorologists also extended snow and ice warnings to cover Thursday and Friday.

Many parts of the country, including northern England, Scotland and the South West, woke to thick snow and icy conditions on Tuesday morning.

It forced the Highland Council to close 13 primary schools and nurseries, while pupils in north Wales were also told to stay home.

A motorist in the Highlands was stopped by police and handed a fixed penalty notice in the early hours after they were caught driving a snow-covered car with just a small square of windscreen cleared.

Police in Cumbria also urged motorists to slow down after tweeting an image of an overturned car lying on its roof on the M6.

Forecasters warned that Britain is facing “very significant snowfall” for the rest of this week, with temperatures plummet to at least -10C in parts of Scotland on Tuesday night, while a “bitingly cold” Wednesday is set to reach highs of 2C or 3C in some places.