Met Office issues new 18 hour weather warning for ice as cold snap continues - full list of areas

An 18 hour yellow weather warning for ice has been issued as this week's cold snap continues.

The Met Office alert covers much of northern England, including Greater Manchester, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland from 4pm today (Wednesday) to 10am tomorrow.

Several other warnings for snow and ice have been in force across the UK in recent days, with the Met Office advising vehicles could be stranded, power cuts may occur and rural areas could be cut off. In Greater Manchester, the mercury is set to plummet to -1C tomorrow morning and the forecast is for it to remain bitterly cold until the weekend.

READ MORE: UK weather forecast as MORE snow and ice expected this week amid freezing snap

But on Saturday, heavy rain is forecast as conditions turn much milder.

The warning states: "Icy stretches are expected to form on untreated surfaces during Wednesday evening and overnight into Thursday as temperatures drop below freezing. A few sleet or snow showers are also likely at times, particularly close to coasts."

Met Office chief meteorologist Neil Armstrong said: "With cold Arctic air firmly in place over the UK, continued winter hazards are likely through much of this week, with further updates to warnings likely in the coming days."

The Met Office said cold northerly winds will continue through the week across much of the UK, with further warnings likely. It added that temperatures were likely to increase from the south-west this weekend, though this will be accompanied by some strong winds and heavy rain.

Regions and local authorities affected by the ice warning:

North West England

• Blackburn with Darwen
• Blackpool
• Cheshire East
• Cheshire West and Chester
• Cumbria
• Greater Manchester
• Halton
• Lancashire
• Merseyside
• Warrington

Yorkshire & Humber

• East Riding of Yorkshire
• Kingston upon Hull
• North East Lincolnshire
• North Yorkshire

North East England

• Redcar and Cleveland

East Midlands

• Derbyshire
• Lincolnshire

East of England

• Norfolk
• Suffolk

Central, Tayside & Fife

• Angus
• Perth and Kinross
• Stirling

Grampian

• Aberdeen
• Aberdeenshire
• Moray

Highlands & Eilean Siar

• Highland

Northern Ireland

• County Antrim
• County Armagh
• County Down
• County Londonderry
• County Tyrone

SW Scotland, Lothian Borders

• Dumfries and Galloway

Strathclyde

• Argyll and Bute
• East Ayrshire
• Inverclyde
• North Ayrshire
• Renfrewshire
• South Ayrshire
• West Dunbartonshire

Wales

• Conwy
• Denbighshire
• Flintshire
• Gwynedd
• Isle of Anglesey
• Powys
• Wrexham

West Midlands

• Shropshire
• Staffordshire
• Stoke-on-Trent
• Telford and Wrekin
• West Midlands Conurbation