Thousands of school pupils across the north of Scotland are off school because of snow and freezing weather. Highland Council said almost 140 schools and 100 nurseries were shut while 38 schools in Aberdeenshire and five in Shetland were closed.

More sleet, rain, snow and ice is expected with further snowfall of up to 15cm on higher ground according to forecasters.

A yellow alert for Aberdeen, Aberdeenshire, Moray, the Highlands, Western Isles, Orkney and Shetland runs until midnight on Thursday.

Forecasters warn of difficult driving conditions as workers and school pupils return after the Christmas break.

The Met Office has issued new weather warnings for parts of the UK, with yellow warnings for ice and snow in place until Friday morning. The two new warnings cover parts of Northern Ireland and Wales as well as areas in north-west England and the east of England - they come after an existing warning for snow and ice in parts of northern Scotland.

The Met Office has issued a fresh yellow weather warning for ice for Yorkshire and the Humber this evening as Britain continues to shiver in freezing temperatures.

Parts of Wales are set for another cold snap on Thursday, with two weather warnings in place for snow and ice. The Met Office has issued a yellow warning for snow and ice for parts of north, west and mid Wales from 00:15 GMT on Thursday until 11:00.

The Met Office has issued a yellow weather warning for North Wales due to ice which will be in place on Thursday and Friday (January 9 and 10).

The Met Office has issued fresh weather warnings for ice after huge areas of the UK were hit by heavy snow. Parts of southern Scotland, the northeast, Yorkshire, the Midlands and East Anglia have been issued a yellow warning for ice.

Yellow alerts for snow, ice and fog have been issued for today, after snow and sleet caused disruption yesterday.