The UK has been hit by a blast of cold weather, with temperatures falling as low as -5C (23F) overnight amid forecasts of snow and freezing rain.

Meteorologists had warned that temperatures overnight could plummet to as low as -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 -5C overnight.

In Scotland, Eskdalemuir in Dumfries and Galloway felt the same chilly temperatures, hitting -5C at 11pm on Thursday.

UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) cold weather health alerts for all of England remained in place before a week of low temperatures.

Amber alerts were issued on Thursday and will run until 8 January, meaning a rise in the number of deaths, particularly among those aged 65 and over or with health conditions, is likely, the UKHSA said.

Dan Stroud, a meteorologist at the Met Office, said conditions should become warmer by the end of this weekend before the cold weather returns 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.”

Met Office warnings were 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.

The Met Office meteorologist Tom Morgan said: “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.

Rail services are likely to experience delays or cancellations, with National Rail confirming that various routes across England, Scotland and Wales will be affected.