Temperatures plummet to -5C in Greater Manchester - and the freezing snap isn't going away

Temperatures as low as -5C are forecast for Greater Manchester this morning as the freezing cold snap in the UK continues.

According to the Met Office, the mercury will drop to -5C at around 7am in our region and will remain in minus figures up until 1pm. Through the afternoon, temperatures won't rise above 2C.

From around 7pm, sub-zero temperatures are forecast again with another cold night predicted. The weather is set to be mostly dry and clear in Greater Manchester today (Thursday) with no rain forecast.

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Friday is forecast to be another cold and dry day, though the mercury will slowly start creeping up into the weekend. From Sunday, temperatures of around 12C are forecast in our region with a yellow Met Office wind warning set to come into force.

Last night and into the early hours, temperatures dipped below freezing over much of the UK, with preliminary data from the Met Office indicating the mercury fell to as low as -11C in England and -10C in Scotland. This comes after the UK had its coldest night of the winter so far on Tuesday, when Dalwhinnie in the Scottish Highlands experienced a temperature of -14C.

On Tuesday morning, Greater Manchester woke up to a thick covering of snow. It caused mayhem on roads and public transport, with ambulances warning of longer than usual waits, football matches cancelled and schools across the region forced to close their doors.

Yesterday, a snow and ice warning remained in place with the freezing conditions causing 'severe delays' on the Metrolink and ice on the roads. The North West Ambulance Service (NWAS) warned yesterday evening that A&E departments across the North West were 'extremely busy'