A yellow warning for ice has been issued by the Met Office for a swathe of the country with the threat of "some injuries from slips and falls".

Snow and hail showers could also lead to travel disruption, said the forecaster.

UK weather: The latest Sky News forecast

The warning, covering eastern areas including the Scottish Borders, Northumberland, Durham, North Yorkshire, the East Riding of Yorkshire and Lincolnshire, remains in force until 10am on Saturday.

It follows a chilly start to April across much of the UK on Friday with temperatures dipping as low as -8C (17.6F), which was recorded in Tulloch Bridge, Scotland.

Sky News weather producer Joanna Robinson said: "There will be a widespread frost to start Saturday, severe in places.

"Icy stretches are possible too, mainly in the East.

"There will be plenty of sunshine during the morning, but there will be a scattering of showers, with a risk of hail, sleet, and hill snow."

She added: "It will stay rather cold for early April, but lighter winds than recently mean it shouldn't feel quite so raw."

The cold snap comes after the UK experienced its sunniest March since 1929.

Northern Ireland enjoyed 90% more sunshine than average for the month, with a total of 192.5 hours of sun.

Scotland had 64% more sun than usual, with a total of 160.1 hours.

The bright outlook was repeated across the UK, with England seeing its second sunniest March at 168.1 hours and Wales its fifth sunniest with 157.9 hours.

Met Office meteorologist Dan Stroud said overnight temperatures would be several degrees colder than the average for the time of year, with cities across the UK experiencing below freezing conditions.

He said the wintry weather is set to continue through the weekend.

He said: "It's generally dry and cold, if not slightly less cold than we have had for the next few days.

"We've got an Arctic air flow established at the moment, that's coming from a cold source.

"So we've basically got cold, clear air established across the UK.

"There's also a lot of clear and sunny skies, especially to the western parts of the UK."

Mr Stroud said temperatures should climb from around 10C (50F) averages over the weekend to around 14C (57.2F) on Monday as the Arctic air system moves away.