Snow arrives in Midlands as weather causes disruption to drivers on M5 and flights at Birmingham Airport

Thousands were left without power across the UK as wintry weather swept in overnight, with Western Power Networks saying more than 350 homes had been cut off in the Black Country and Birmingham alone.

Passengers at Birmingham Airport were warned that the weather could impact flights as snow fell in the early hours in southern areas of the Midlands.

The runway was closed for a period overnight and some flights were diverted due to snow flurries. The runway has since reopened.

And there were warnings of flooding as overnight snow thawed with two lanes of the M5 blocked southbound between junction two at Oldbury and junction three at Halesowen.

The outside lane was also impassable in places on the M5 towards the M42.

But highways officials say these problems have cleared as the morning went on.

There were also reports of delays to trains through Birmingham New Street station.

People faced delays of up to 10 minutes on Virgin Trains West Coast between Birmingham New Street and Wolverhampton due to safety checks.

And there had been delays of up to 20 minutes on West Midlands Railway services between Walsall and Rugeley Trent Valley due to late finish of engineering work.

Met Office meteorologist Simon Partridge said: “We have had some quickly changing weather overnight with a band of heavy rain and hill snow that started in the south west and is gradually moving north and eastwards.

"That’s crossed Wales and is just lying over central southern England and it has brought some snow with it.”

“We have had a number of reports of areas affected; it shut part of the M5 just south of Bristol because lorries could not get uphill.

“There has also been come power cuts reported and road traffic accidents as well, although these have been more to do with surface water.”

The band of rain and snow is not expected to clear until around 7pm on Wednesday, although showers are expected to become lighter and patchy as the day progresses.

Dry, bright and breezy conditions will follow, with some wintry showers affecting the west.

Temperatures are expected to peak around 6C (43F) although many places will only reach 3C (37F) or 4C (39F).

Places where snow has accumulated overnight will struggle to tip over 0C (32F) while those areas could see temperatures dip back down to minus 6C (21F) overnight on Wednesday.

Thursday will generally be drier and day with slightly less wind, although it will remain cold.

Wet and windy weather is expected to return for the weekend, raising the risk of some flooding.