LIVE: Greater Manchester and UK weather as 'widespread snow' forecast with Met Office warnings in place - latest updates

The Met Office has warned of 'widespread snow' this week with a number of snow and ice warnings issued across the UK.

In Greater Manchester, sunny weather today (Monday) is set to make way to wintery conditions with snow showers forecast for both Tuesday and Wednesday. Temperatures are set to plummet to below freezing with the mercury dropping to as low as -4C in parts of our region in the early hours.

National Highways has issued a severe weather alert for snow affecting the north west, with road users advised to plan ahead, and some rural communities warned they could be temporarily cut off. A snow and ice warning is in place from 3am on Monday until 9am on Tuesday across Northern Ireland with another for ice in place until 11am on Monday across parts of north east Wales and north west England from Liverpool to the West Midlands.

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In Scotland, a similar warning is in place in northern areas until midnight on Monday. The warning area will then spread across the whole of Scotland and into northern England on Tuesday.

A snow warning will be in place from midnight on Wednesday until midnight on Thursday across Northern Ireland, northern and western Scotland, parts of northern England and Wales. Met Office Deputy Chief Meteorologist Chris Bulmer said: "Snow showers from Sunday onwards are most likely to move inland from coasts exposed to northerly winds.

"The focus of snow showers will be over northern Scotland, but parts of the North Sea and Irish Sea coasts may also see some snow at times. There are a couple of weather systems for Tuesday and Wednesday which we are keeping an eye on that bring the potential for disruptive snow for some