Multiple Met Office Yellow National Severe Weather Warnings for ice and snow have been issued for the coming days, covering Northern Ireland, parts of Wales, northern and southwestern parts of England and much of Scotland. Merseyside has been issued with a yellow weather warning for ice.
An amber cold health alert is also in force for Merseyside from the UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) until Saturday, November 22. It focuses specifically on impacts for health and social care in England. Amber cold health alerts have been issued for the North East, North West and Yorkshire and the Humber. Yellow cold alerts have been issued for the rest of England.
The weather warning for Merseyside comes into place at 12am and will be lifted at 11am tomorrow morning, Wednesday, November 19. The Met Office says those in areas covered by the alert should expect icy patches on some untreated roads, pavements and cycle paths and be cautious of injuries from slips and falls on icy surfaces.
The Met Office states there will be rain and hill snow, followed by clearing skies; this will lead to the "risk of icy patches" from Tuesday night into Wednesday morning.
Sharing further insight into the weather warning, they said: "Outbreaks of rain will spread southwards on Tuesday night into Wednesday morning, potentially falling as snow on hills for a time, before clearing to the south.
"As skies clear later, allowing temperatures to fall close to or below freezing, this will bring the risk of icy patches on untreated surfaces. Some temporary slushy snow deposits will be possible where snow persists for long enough, especially on grassy surfaces, but any significant accumulations will be largely restricted to communities and transport routes above about 300 m elevation."
The Met Office map below shows areas of the UK, including Merseyside, covered by weather warnings. Warnings across the country have been active since yesterday and remain in place until Thursday, November 20.
Met Office Chief Forecaster Neil Armstrong said: "Cold Arctic air from the north is firmly in charge of the UK's weather, bringing the first notable cold snap of this autumn and giving an early taste of winter weather.
"As a result, winter hazards are likely through the next few days, with snow and ice a particular hazard, and the coldest conditions likely on Wednesday and Thursday. Wintry showers will affect areas exposed to the brisk northerly wind, in particular Northern Ireland, southwest Wales, southwest England, northeast England and across the northern half of Scotland.
"Whilst not all places will see lying snow, where showers are most frequent, accumulations of 2-5 cm will be possible. On higher ground in Scotland, 15-20 cm could accumulate, and potentially as much as 15-25 cm over the North York Moors and Yorkshire Wolds."
Things will be drier for many by Friday, with temperatures gradually turning milder and rain reaching the west later in the day. There are signals for fronts of rain to cross from west to east on Saturday, with potentially further wet and windy weather for many on Sunday.