A BLAST of late winter weather has brought snow flurries to many parts of the North of England and the Midlands.

East Lancashire has escaped the worst of the weather but temperatures will remain low until the end of the week.

Average temperatures will remain around six to eight degrees across the area until a rise on Friday to 11 degrees, 12 degrees on Saturday and 13 degrees on Sunday.

Met Office meteorologist Alex Burkill said: “We are going to see plenty of showers.

“They could be intense at times and, as a result, that will bring the risk of something wintry, even though temperatures are set to climb a little bit as we go through the day.

“The further North you are, the better chance you’ve got of catching a shower and a greater chance of any shower turning wintry.”

He said tomorrow would be the last day of the cold snap.

He also said snow at the end of April is unusual but ‘not really that rare’, with showers on April 26 last year.