Drives across the UK are warned to be careful on their commutes
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Severe weather warnings remain in place across much of the UK, with Scotland and north-east England predicted to have the heaviest snowfalls.
BBC meteorologist Darren Brett said snow had fallen in north-east England down to East Anglia, with coastal Hampshire and Dorset also at risk.
Warnings are also in place for icy roads in Northern Ireland and Wales.
Some weekend sporting events have been cancelled as forecasters say the early cold spell could last for two weeks.
The UK has seen the earliest widespread snowfall for 17 years.
Mr Brett said a band of snow was moving west across Scotland and that the north-west of England could be affected overnight.
The latest Met Office severe weather warnings for Scotland are for Orkney and Shetland, the Highlands and Grampian, Central, Tayside, Fife, south-west Scotland, Lothian and Borders.
Heavy snow has been predicted for south-west England.
Snow and ice warnings have been added for eastern areas of England – the North East, Yorkshire and Humber, East Midlands, Norfolk and Suffolk.
There is also a warning of widespread icy roads for London and parts of south-east England until at least 1100 GMT Saturday.
Mr Brett said there could be 10-15cm of fresh snow by 0900 GMT on Saturday in some parts of the north of England.
He added that coastal areas were also affected
“It’s the sea temperatures that are higher than the land temperatures that are helping to trigger this instability and trigger those showers – which is why we are seeing a lot of them near the coast.”
He said there was likely to be some fog in east Wales and West Midlands, but not Northern Ireland.
He said: “It is very treacherous on Saturday morning. We will see some sunshine though for the south-west of Scotland, north-west England, Midlands and across Wales and Northern Ireland.
The snowfall is expected to continue over the weekend
“It’s a little bit of a quieter day but a cold one with temperatures struggling to get to 2C.”
Heavy snowfall and ice caused disruption across the UK on Thursday and Friday.
On the M4 in south Wales there were reports of a 26-mile tailback in the Friday evening rush hour westbound from the Severn Bridge toll booths to Miskin, while more than 160 schools had earlier been closed or partially closed in Scotland.
Schools in Northumberland, Tyne and Wear, East and North Yorkshire, and Wales were also affected.
The AA said it had been a “very busy day” with 1,220 call-outs every hour with Wales and the North East of England being the worst for breakdowns.
The coldest recorded temperature on Friday was in Carterhouse in the Scottish Borders, at -7.8C. Benson in Oxfordshire recorded -7.6C, Newcastle dropped to -4.3C, while the temperature at Kew Gardens in London sank to -3.8C.
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Saturday’s horse racing meeting at Newcastle has been cancelled, with Gosforth Park under 18cm of snow. The meeting at Towcester, Northamptonshire, has also been called off, while events at Carlisle and Leicester on Sunday are in doubt.
The weekend’s FA Cup second round matches could also be at risk.
But Rugby Union bosses insist that England’s match against South Africa at Twickenham on Saturday will go ahead.
Animal charity the RSPCA urged dog owners to keep pets safe by avoiding iced-over lakes or ponds.
The unusual weather is being caused by high pressure over Greenland and low pressure in the Baltics, forcing cold winds from the north-east across Europe.
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Children make the most of the cold snap in Banchory
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The whole country faced heavy snowfall and bitter temperatures overnight as the early Arctic blast took grip.
One of the coldest areas in Scotland was Dalwhinnie in the Scottish Highlands, at -8.2C. In Glasgow temperatures fell to -3.5C.
Forecasters said snow showers would continue to affect the north and north east, and also gradually push into East Lothian and the eastern Borders.
Elsewhere it was forecast to remain dry and bright throughout the day.
However, temperatures would struggle to rise much above freezing and widespread snowfall was expected to return through the night along with lower temperatures.
Police have urged drivers to exercise extreme care due to snow and ice on the roads.
Northern Constabulary said the following roads were closed due to snow: A939 Grantown on Spey to Tomintoul, A939 Grantown on Spey to Dava, and the B9007 Carrbridge to Ferness.
Beith FC’s Scottish Cup replay with Airdrie United FC has been called off due to snow.
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The speech will mark the end to a tempestuous year for Mr Robinson
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The DUP’s leader is set to tell his party’s annual conference that dissident republicans should not be allowed to hold back progress.
Peter Robinson is also expected to express confidence that the Stormont parties will be able to agree a budget.
PSNI Chief Constable Matt Baggott has said that the threat from dissidents remains severe in Northern Ireland.
Mr Robinson will say that the police should not “take their foot off the pedal” when tackling this threat.
Despite the economic downturn, he will try to accentuate the positive, paying tribute to the skilled workforce available locally and expressing confidence that the Stormont parties can resolve their difference over the budget.
Northern Ireland’s parties have clashed over a draft budget, with Sinn Fein calling on the executive to resist “Tory cuts” and the DUP appealing for “realism”.
Both Mr Robinson and the deputy first minister, Sinn Fein’s Martin McGuinness, have said recently that they expect a budget to be agreed.
BBC NI political editor Mark Devenport said that the speech would mark the end to a tempestuous year for Mr Robinson.
“It has encompassed the revelations about his wife Iris’ personal and financial affairs and the loss of his East Belfast seat. But he has proven wrong those who predicted he would not still be leader by the end of the year.”
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Damilola Taylor was stabbed as he returned home
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Prayers by family and friends and an award ceremony will mark the 10th anniversary of the death of Damilola Taylor, who was killed in south London.
Damilola, 10, was returning home when he was stabbed in the thigh with a broken beer bottle in Peckham in 2000.
Brothers Ricky and Danny Preddie, now aged 23 and 22, were jailed for eight years for manslaughter in 2006.
Damilola’s father Richard Taylor said the Spirit of London Award, held later in Greenwich, will be his son’s legacy.
Mr Taylor and London Mayor Boris Johnson will give the awards at the O2 Arena in south-east London.
Damilola’s family had come to the UK from Nigeria a few months before his death, in search of a better life.
The boy, who was stabbed on his way home from a library, bled to death in a concrete stairwell in Peckham.
In September, one of Damilola’s killers – Ricky Preddie – was released after serving two-thirds of his sentence, including time spent in custody on remand.
Damilola’s mother, Gloria, 57, died from a suspected heart attack in April 2008.
“I’m really impressed with all the good things that have started coming up as a result of what happened to my son”
Richard Taylor Damilola’s father
Mr Taylor said: “We will be praying at the cemetery as usual and then we will have the big event at the O2 to mark the 10th anniversary and the Spirit of London Award, which is (the) legacy we want to leave in the memory of Damilola.”
Earlier Mr Taylor, who has been campaigning against youth crime in London since Damilola’s death, said: “I’m really impressed with all the good things that have started coming up as a result of what happened to my son.”
The award ceremony, in its second year, was developed with the Damilola Taylor Trust with the aim of recognising the achievements of the capital’s young people.
Gary Trowsdale, from the trust, said: “Damilola’s legacy is enshrined in these awards. We are honouring the type of person he was turning into.”
Mr Johnson said: “The whole nation mourned the tragic loss of Damilola and it is astonishing to think that 10 years have passed since the shocking (killing) of this bright, young child.
“His father Richard Taylor has worked tirelessly to help tackle youth crime and steer troubled kids away from violence.”
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There has been rising anger in the South over the North’s shelling of Yeonpyeong island
North Korea has accused Seoul of using human shields on the island where firing from the North killed two South Korean civilians this week.
The North’s state media said the South was using the deaths for propaganda.
Two marines also died in the shelling of the South’s Yeonpyeong island. Their funerals were held on Saturday amid rising anger in the South.
The North has also issued a new warning on US-South Korea military exercises, set to start on Sunday.
The four days of exercises include the USS George Washington aircraft carrier and its battle group.
North Korea’s official KCNA news agency said: “If the US brings its carrier to the West Sea of Korea (Yellow Sea), no-one can predict the ensuing consequences.”
The BBC’s Chris Hogg in Seoul says that, coming just a few hours before the military exercises, the latest warnings and threats from North Korea are certain to anger the South further.
The two marines were killed when North Korea fired dozens of artillery shells at Yeonpyeong Island
In Seoul on Saturday, about 1,000 South Korean military veterans protested at the deaths, burning the North Korean flag and portraits of Pyongyang’s leaders. The protesters shouted slogans demanding revenge and condemning the North’s “atrocity”.
KCNA said Seoul was using the civilian casualties for propaganda, in its words “creating the impression that the defenceless civilians were exposed to indiscriminate shelling from the North”.
Pyongyang said it had been provoked by the South’s military exercises, which were being carried out close to Yeonpyeong.
It said the North had sent a “telephone notice” on the morning of the shelling “to prevent the clash at the last moment” but the South continued its “provocation”.
South Korea says two men in their 60s, who were working on the island, were killed by the shells.
The funeral service for the two marines who died, Seo Jeong-woo and Moon Kwang-wook, was held at a military hospital in Seongnam, close to Seoul, on Saturday and was broadcast on television nationwide.
Hundreds of government and military officials, politicians, religious leaders, activists and civilians attended. Among them were Prime Minister Kim Hwang-sik .
Officials and relatives placed white flowers on the two coffins draped in the South Korean flag. Marines sang as the coffins were carried out.
Maj Gen You Nak-jun, the head of the marine corps, said: “We’ll certainly repay North Korea a thousand-fold for killing and harming our marines.
“South Korean active-duty marines and all reserve forces will engrave this anger and hostility in our bones and we will make sure we take revenge on North Korea.”
South Korea’s new Defence Minister Kim Kwan-jin said that tougher action was needed against the North.
“We need to deal with North Korea’s provocations strongly. We need to hit back multiple times as hard.”
The US says Sunday’s joint military drills are defensive, but are designed to deter the North from carrying out further attacks.
North Korea: Timeline 2010
26 March: South Korean warship, Cheonan, sinks, killing 46 sailors
20 May: Panel says a North Korean torpedo sank the ship; Pyongyang denies involvement
July-September: South Korea and US hold military exercises; US places more sanctions on Pyongyang
29 September: North holds rare party congress seen as part of father-to-son succession move
29 October: Troops from North and South Korea exchange fire across the land border
12 November: North Korea shows US scientist new – undeclared – uranium enrichment facility
23 November: North shells island of Yeonpyeong, killing at least four South Koreans
In pictures: S Korean anger US-South alliance under pressure Koreans angry and worried Brief history of the Korean War
The North calls the military drills an “unpardonable provocation”. State media promised a “sea of fire” if North Korean territory was violated.
China said the drills would escalate tension and warned against any infractions into its exclusive economic zone, which extends 320km (200 miles) from its coast.
The US has called on China to increase its pressure on Pyongyang to prevent further incidents.
China has said its “top priority” is to keep the situation under control. Beijing has begun a series of talks in an attempt to ease the tension.
On Friday, China’s Foreign Minister Yang Jiechi met the North’s ambassador in person, and spoke on the phone to his US and South Korean counterparts, according to the state-run Xinhua news agency.
However, the top US military commander, Adm Mike Mullen, said he did not know “why China doesn’t push harder” with Pyongyang.
In an interview with CNN due to be broadcast on Sunday but released as a transcript, Adm Mullen said Beijing appeared to mistakenly believe it could control North Korea’s leader, Kim Jong-il.
“I’m not sure he is controllable,” Adm Mullen said.
South Korea has increased its troop numbers on Yeonpyeong and says it will change its rules of engagement to allow it to respond more forcefully if incidents such as Tuesday’s happen again.
This week’s tension comes as the North is undergoing an apparent transition of power from Kim Jong-il to his young son Kim Jong-un.
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