THE Met Office has issued a yellow warning for ice, sleet and snow as temperatures look set to plunge.

Forecasters have warned of icy patches developing from 10pm tonight and 11am tomorrow morning.

Wintry showers could also hit higher ground in Greater Manchester and Lancashire, they say.

People are being warned to take care on pavements and untreated roads, with injuries from slips and falls expected.

Meteorologist with the Met Office Marco Petagna said: "Things are turning colder, but it is just more typical winter conditions.

"It has been so mild this winter that it will be a bit of a shock to the system even though temperatures will be average for this time of year or just below.

"It's nothing unusual, but it's the first wintry weather that some parts of the UK have seen for a while."

The temperature will continue to fall going into Thursday, leading to a widespread frost.

"There won't be too much in the way of snow accumulation, although some of the higher ground of Scotland could see several centimetres," Mr Petagna said.

However, things could get quite a lot colder at the beginning of next week.

"There's quite a lot of uncertainty about how things will play out," Mr Petagna said.