New weather warning ahead of 'rollercoaster' temperatures
After less than a day of respite from the big freeze, temperatures are set to plummet again across much of the Midlands tonight.
Ice began to thaw and most schools reopened as thermometers reached 5C (41F) this morning, but another icy night is expected ahead of a 'rollercoaster' few days of temperatures, according to the Met Office.
The weather agency has issued a yellow weather warning for ice from 4pm this afternoon until 11am tomorrow, covering all of Staffordshire and the majority of the Black Country.
"Ice will again form on some surfaces from late Wednesday afternoon, which will continue through the night and well into Thursday morning," the Met Office warned.
"In addition, wintry showers will spread from the west with some accumulations of snow, though mostly restricted to high ground.
"There will probably be icy stretches on untreated roads, pavements and cycle paths with some slippery surfaces likely."
Much of the snow and ice across the region turned to slush and water as the mercury climbed above freezing this morning, but many roads and pavements remained dangerously slippery - either from remaining ice and snow or the added surface water.
The vast majority of schools were open in the West Midlands today after hundreds shut on Friday, Monday and Tuesday, while council services such as bin collections also started up again.
And air and rail services - which were disrupted earlier this week by the weather - appear to be returning back to normal, with flights departing almost on time from Birmingham.
The cold weather is expected to return over the weekend - although lows such as the -13C seen in Shawbury earlier this week are unlikely to be reached.
Craig Snell, a forecaster at the Met Office added: "It's a bit of a rollercoaster on the temperatures over the next four or five days.
"We're not likely to see the -13C of the other night but we could see temperatures potentially at -7C (19F) in a few spots, but generally remaining cold but not as cold as we started the week."
Meanwhile all football matches on Sandwell Council pitches have been cancelled this weekend due to the weather.
No matches will be played until January in a bid to prevent the pitches from being churned up and made unusable, the council said.
