The country has been hit by a blast of cold weather, with temperatures falling as low as minus 5C overnight amid forecasts of snow and freezing rain.
Alerts were issued on Thursday and will run until January 8, meaning a rise in deaths, particularly among those aged 65 and over or with health conditions, is likely, the UKHSA said.
Meteorologists had warned that temperatures overnight could have plummeted to as low as minus 8C as a week-long spell of wintry conditions hit the UK.
Initial data indicated that Rostherne in Cheshire and in Yeovilton in Somerset dropped to minus 5C overnight.
In Scotland, Eskdalemuir in Dumfries and Galloway felt the same chilly temperatures, hitting minus 5C at 11pm on Thursday.
UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) cold weather health alerts for all of England remain in place ahead of a week of low temperatures.
Dan Stroud, a meteorologist at the Met Office, said conditions should become warmer by the end of this weekend before cold weather strikes again early next week.
He said: “The second half of the weekend should be in the high singles or low doubles (for temperature figures).
“But temperatures will dive again next week, particularly on Monday and Tuesday.
“They should start to improve towards the latter end of the week. But there’s a lot of water to go under the bridge until then.”
A chilly start to Friday, with snow and ice warnings in force for coastal parts of Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland ⚠️
— Met Office (@metoffice) January 2, 2025
Frosty in the south beneath clearer skies, but cloudier further north, with wintry showers affecting parts of Scotland and windward facing coasts 🌨️ pic.twitter.com/vS5i770Agw
Met Office warnings are in place for snow and ice on Friday across parts of Scotland, Wales, Northern Ireland and northern England.
A yellow warning about heavy snow and freezing rain is in place from noon on Saturday until 9am on Monday and covers most of England and Wales.
Met Office meteorologist Tom Morgan said: “At the moment we’ve issued a very large snow warning for Saturday until Monday but it doesn’t mean that everywhere within that warning could see snow, it’s just a heads-up there could be some impacts.”
The Met Office has warned people to be prepared and aware when travelling, with longer journey times likely.
Railways are likely to experience delays or cancellations, with National Rail confirming that various routes across England, Scotland and Wales are impacted.
