Warning of blizzards as freeze back

Arctic conditions today returned to the West Midlands - as the region braced itself for a weekend of heavy snow showers and plummeting temperatures.

The region woke to treacherous driving conditions as rain turned to ice.

Snow was also falling in parts of the Black Country today amid Met Office warnings of worse to come.

Aisling Creevey, a forecaster with Meteogroup, said the weekend's weather looked bleak for almost every part of the UK, with some areas warned to expect" significant" accumulations of snow.

"Pretty much everywhere in the UK will be affected by snow at some point and temperatures will really struggle to rise above freezing during the days," she said.

Bleakhouse Junior School in Oldbury was today closed after the heating failed.

Sandwell Council also cancelled all fixtures due to take place on local authority pitches at the weekend.