The Met Office had yellow warnings in place covering large swathes of the country after Storm Larisa battered parts of the UK with gales and blizzards.

Drivers were urged to get behind the wheel only if necessary, with some motorists left stranded due to heavy snowfall.

Heavy snowfall left drivers stranded for more than seven hours on the M62 in Yorkshire and Greater Manchester.

Photo courtesy of Emma Hamilton, 28, who works for the NHS and is from Yorkshire, who was stuck for eight hours travelling from Manchester, on the M62 motorway. Picture date: Friday March 10, 2023.

National Highways North West estimated that at one point congestion on the eastbound carriageway between Rochdale and Saddleworth stretched to around eight miles.

There was a 20 degree difference in minimum temperatures across the UK overnight, with a harsh frost in the north and milder conditions in the south.

The lowest temperature of minus 15.2C was recorded at Altnaharra in northern Scotland while the highest temperature of 5C was recorded in Swanage, Dorset, in the south of England.

Heading into the weekend, the Met Office expects cloud and rain to spread north east on Saturday, turning to snow over high ground.

There will be low levels of snow in the north but this is expected to be short-lived across central areas.

A yellow snow and ice warning covers all Yorkshire until 6am on Sunday.

The Met Office warns that snowfall could cause travel disruption in the affected areas, with delays on roads stranding some vehicles and passengers.

The Met Office adds that there is a small chance of power outages in some affected areas.

Ice warning remains for Yorkshire as temperatures plunged to as low as minus 15.2C overnight