The Met Office said Bingley in northern England had seen 12cm of snow overnight.

An amber weather warning – the second most serious – for snow and freezing rain was in place for much of Wales, central England and parts of northwestern England.

Higher ground in Wales and northern England was forecast to see up to 30cm of snow.

Some rural communities above 300m could be cut off with up to 40cm of snow, the Met Office said.

Manchester and Liverpool John Lennon airports in northwest England closed their runways today.

Central Birmingham airport also suspended operations for several hours overnight for snow to be cleared from its runway but said it expected it would be “business as usual” this morning.

Bristol airport also reopened at around 11pm yesterday but warned of delays due to aircraft being out of position.

The national grid said it was working to restore power after outages in central and southwest England and south Wales.