Motorway crashes as snow hits at start of 'coldest week'

Snowfall in southeast England has triggered a series of pile-ups and travel disruption on the roads as forecasters predict "one of the coldest weeks of this winter so far".

Snow, sleet and ice warnings have kicked in for large parts of the country, with police urging motorists to drive carefully and allow extra time for journeys.

Heavy snowfall on a stretch of the M20 caught out early morning commuters, causing collisions involving several vehicles.

Snow also hit parts of London and East Sussex as temperatures plummeted.

Kent Police tweeted images of the crashes, including pictures of overturned vehicles, warning drivers to "be aware" and to allow extra time for journeys.

Tweeting footage of officers driving through the snow, the force added: "It's now full on Millennium Falcon at light speed weather now over a lot of our network. So watch your speed and sudden road changes. Watch out for static vehicles and drive safely."

Kent Fire and Rescue posted: "WARNING - Please take care on #Kent's roads this morning, there's risk of ice and we're expecting #snow too - up to 3cm - enough to make journeys a little more tricky. Please drive to the conditions, keeping speeds down and lights on #drivetoarrive."

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Most people across the UK can expect to shiver through sub-zero temperatures at some points during the week.

The Met Office has warned the mercury could plummet as low as -7C in some areas.

About 1cm to 3cm of snow could accumulate inland, mainly over hills above 100 metres, with up to 5cm predicted above 200 metres.

A yellow weather warning - meaning severe weather is possible - for ice and snow has been issued affecting the East and West Midlands, North East and North West England, Yorkshire and Humber, Wales from between 8pm on Monday until 3pm on Tuesday.

Ice is also expected to develop across Scotland and Northern Ireland during this period.

The cold snap is expected to grip Britain until at least next weekend, with the chance that milder weather may not arrive until the middle of the following week.

Met Office forecaster Craig Snell said it would probably be "one of our coldest weeks of this winter so far".