Forecasters warn of freezing night

Snow has put a stop to race meetings in Newcastle

The risk of snow showers across the UK will ease through Sunday but most areas face another freezing night, according to forecasters.

Weather experts say motorists should be prepared for a layer of frost on Monday morning, but predict the cold snap will begin to ease.

Some rural areas will see temperatures drop as low as -8C overnight.

Parts of Kent, Essex, Norfolk and North East England experienced snow showers early on Sunday.

'Isolated wintry showers'

Snow storms caused problems on both carriageways of the M11 near Stansted, Essex, during the morning.

A police spokesman said snow had built up quickly on the motorway causing a few minor accidents. These were cleared after the road had been gritted.

Newcastle Racecourse has cancelled Monday's race meeting because of snow.

Byron Chalcraft, forecaster at the BBC's Weather Centre, said snow or sleet showers would only occur in isolated areas during Sunday.

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"But it is going to be another very frosty night ahead, with one or two wintry showers in the south," he told BBC News Online.

Temperatures will start to fall in the afternoon and overnight could dip to -3C in cities, with rural areas possibly experiencing temperatures as low as -8C.

Most of the UK will be affected, with only the far north of Scotland escaping the frost.

Monday night would not be quite as cold and by mid-week the weather would start to feel warmer as the frosts disappeared, he added.

During the cold snap - which was caused by weather blown in from the Arctic region - some areas of the north east experienced snow up to one foot deep.