The UK is set for the its first full taste of wintry weather this week, with the Met Office issuing ice and snow warnings for parts of England, Scotland and Northern Ireland.

Scotland will be the worst-affected region, with around 10cm or more of snow expected on the country's mountains.

A spokesman for the Met Office said: "We're expecting the first real cold blast in these parts.

"Across the tops of the Scottish mountains it will be pretty horrendous."

However, he said it was too early to predict a White Christmas.

The spokesman said: "It does look as though the unsettled weather theme will continue, but we can't really pin down any detail about the actual weather type on Christmas day itself. At this stage it's still a long way away before we could give precise detail."