A MET Office yellow 'be aware' warning is in place from noon for large parts of England, including the North West.

Forecasters have asked the public to be aware of possible disruption to travel, while health officials urged people to take extra care.

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Around 3-8cm of snow is predicted to fall over parts of northern England, possibly reaching as far as Yorkshire and Humber and the Midlands, and up to 5-10cm of snowcould blanket much of Scotland and Northern Ireland.

A Met Office forecast said: "An active cold front is expected to push south east across the UK during Wednesday, introducing an increasingly cold and unstable air mass.

"Showers will become frequent and heavy, falling primarily as snow and driven well inland by strong to gale force northwesterly winds.

"Commuters and other travellers seem likely to face a variety of winter hazards, especially later on Wednesday and early on Thursday, although it's likely that snowfall in some areas may be more patchy, particularly towards the east."

Billy Payne of forecaster MeteoGroup said: "We will certainly notice a drop in temperatures from in the region of 10C to, by the end of the day, 4C or 5C and widely dropping below zero overnight - down to minus 5C in high ground in the north."