Tonight temperatures are expected to drop to -8C, maybe even -10C, in rural areas and -4C in towns and cities. Anywhere across the UK could wake up to a dusting of snow and further snowfall can be expected throughout Sunday and Monday. Councils across the country are running low on levels of rock salt and drivers are warned that road conditions could be treacherous. Due to the shortage councils will only be able to grit main roads and those which link up hospitals, others will be left untreated. Gloucestershire council has said that should they run out of rock salt they will resort to using table salt to keep the traffic flowing.
The Highways Agency and police have told drivers in the West country to only travel where essential due to the weather conditions. Many roads have been closed and others are covered with black ice making travelling extremely dangerous. Earlier today, the M4 Severn crossing and the M48 Severn bridge were reopened, after being closed due to falling ice. Sheets of up to a metre fell from the structures smashing the windscreens of five cars and leaving the bridges impassible.
In West Yorkshire, a boy, aged six, has died after falling through ice. It is believed that he was playing on the frozen waters with a twelve year old boy, who was rescued by firefighters. The boy was rescued by police divers and rushed to hospital in an air ambulance. He was pronounced dead a little after seven o'clock this evening.
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