Snow gives parts of UK first white Christmas since 2004
 More snow could fall in some parts of the UK next week |
Snow has fallen in parts of the UK to make the first white Christmas for five years, the Met Office has confirmed.
Edinburgh, Glasgow, Nottingham and Leeds were all officially "white", with the required single flake being seen falling in the 24 hours of 25 December. Forecasters are now warning that ice could cause problems on Boxing Day.
The Met Office has a dozen severe weather warnings in place for widespread icy roads in Scotland, Northern Ireland and northern England.
The BBC weather centre said sleet and snow may have fallen elsewhere in the northern UK on Friday, but official confirmation has not yet been given of any more white Christmas locations.
A spokesman said the weekend would generally be warmer than previous days, although mornings would still be icy in the north.
Temperatures are, however, set to fall once again next week, leading to a risk of further snow in some central and northern parts of the UK.
After days of travel disruption, the Christmas Eve getaway generally passed off smoothly for motorists as weather improved across much of Britain.
The Highways Agency has lifted roadworks at 44 sites until 3 January and a spokeswoman said Christmas Eve had been quieter than Wednesday.
Andrew Howard, the AA's head of road safety, said it was possible people had waited until Christmas morning to travel.
He warned that even roads where ice had thawed could be dangerous.
"The trouble is that the salt gets washed away. If it refreezes then you don't have salt on the roads and there's very little you can do about it," he said.
"Even if a road has been salted, it doesn't mean it's safe."
The weather has wreaked havoc with the sporting calendar.
The National Hunt Boxing Day meetings at Towcester, Sedgefield, Wetherby and Market Rasen have been called off, while Wincanton and Huntingdon face late inspections.
Meanwhile, all but two of the Scottish Football League's Saturday fixtures have been postponed.
