Forecasters are warning of a cold snap ahead as Scotland faces five days of snow and ice.

An amber warning for heavy snow covering northern Scotland comes into force from midnight tonight until 6pm on Saturday, meaning communities could be cut off for several days.

The Met Office also warned there could be long interruptions to power supplies and services such as gas, water and mobile phone coverage.

Elsewhere, a yellow weather warning has been issued for much of the country, meaning drivers risk becoming stranded and power cuts are possible.

The Herald:

The Met Office said 10cm to 20cm of snow could fall on higher ground, with 40cm predicted to fall over the Grampians.

There is also a yellow warning for rain covering lower parts of Scotland in force until midday on Saturday, meaning localised flooding is likely.

READ MORE: January was coldest for a decade

Mark Sidaway, Met Office deputy chief meteorologist, said: “Into the weekend, snow will continue across much of Scotland, and is likely to increasingly fall to low levels before beginning to move south into northern and eastern England.

“We are likely to see some very large accumulations across higher parts of Scotland especially, with strong winds leading to significant drifting and blizzard conditions at times.”

The weather warnings come after it was revealed that last month was the coldest January across the UK in a decade.

The Met Office said January had an average temperature of 2.2C, making it the coldest across the UK since 2010, when the average UK January temperature was 0.9C.

READ MORE: Snow warnings for Glasgow, Grampian and Highland

It has also been the coldest calendar month since March 2013 which also recorded an average temperature of 2.2C.

The coldest January on record was 1963 with a mean temperature of minus 1.9C.