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.

The alert will run for 24 hours from midday, covering Grampian, the Highlands, Orkney & Shetland, Dumfries & Galloway and across Ayrshire.

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.

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.

The Met Office has issued a fresh warning for snow and ice as wintry weather continued to disrupt the first week back to school in parts of Scotland. More than 50 schools in the Highlands have been affected on Wednesday, with most closed for the day due to snow and ice on roads.

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