Britain is bracing itself for more cold weather as Scotland and the North East of England were once again battered by snow.

Temperatures will drop well below zero overnight and forecasters warned another six inches of snow could fall amid Arctic winds.

The Met Office issued a yellow severe weather warning urging those in the regions likely to be affected to be aware.

John Lee, a forecaster for MeteoGroup, the weather division of the Press Association, said: “Many northern and eastern parts of Britain have got some snow.

“It’s likely that many areas, particularly the higher ground in eastern Scotland and North East England, will see up to 10-15 cms.

“The central band of Scotland could be hard hit overnight and into tomorrow.”

Police closed the A66 across the Pennines between Bowes, County Durham, and Stainmore, Cumbria, because of heavy snow and Leeds Bradford Inter-national Airport was closed on Monday morning.

The bad weather will mean a cargo ship, MV Danio, which ran aground on Saturday on rocks near a lighthouse in the Farne Islands, three miles off the Northumberland coast, will stay put for at least a week.

Mr Lee added: “By tomorrow it starts to ease off.

“From tomorrow, the snow showers will retreat back, mainly affecting the North Sea coast.

“Because of the strong easterly winds in the north, many parts ­­­of the North East and Scotland will struggle to get above three degrees.

“But further south it will be about nine degrees.

“It’s still a couple of degrees below the average, but in general it’s slightly less cold than it has been in the past week or so.”