ICE WARNING
A SEVERE weather warning for ice across all parts of South Wales was issued by the Met Office yesterday.
It said rain, sleet and snow over the past 48 hours was expected to give way to icy patches developing through last night and into this morning on untreated surfaces.
The yellow “be aware” ice alert, in place between 4pm yesterday to 11am today, was also in force across the whole of Wales, and warned that scattered wintry showers were also set to also affect western areas of the UK.
The Met Office chief forecaster said that 1-2cm of snow may accumulate above around 200m where showers fall.
Across the UK and parts of Wales over the past 36 hours, snowfall has already caused dangerous conditions with drivers urged to take caution.
Severe weather conditions through Tuesday night left some roads impassable and black ice was reported.
Dyfed-Powys Police and South Wales Police have urged drivers to be careful on several busy roads amid a separate yellow weather warning for rain and snow across large parts of the country.
The Welsh Grand National at Chepstow was cancelled due to around 60mm of rain and snow.
The racetrack said it hopes to reschedule the race for Saturday, January 6.
Rhondda Cynon Taf council said gritters had been out overnight gritting main routes and high routes.
Rhigos mountain road was closed due to the conditions. The Maerdy mountain road remained open but drivers were urged to be careful.
Road Safety Wales, a Welsh Government body, said most people have very little experience of driving in snow and ice and asked drivers to take care.
It advised motorists to avoid harsh acceleration, braking and steering and to check traffic reports before setting off.
Meanwhile, teams from Natural Resources Wales were deployed on Tuesday to clear culverts and rivers to protect homes ahead of the heavy rain which hit South Wales on Boxing Day.
Despite the ice warning, temperatures are expected to rise to a maximum of 12°C over the weekend.
Today was set to be the sunniest of the next four days, with bright but chilly conditions through the day and a maximum temperature of 5°C, falling to 1°C overnight.
Tomorrow is set to see rain and perhaps hill snow, with some sunny intervals.
Saturday and Sunday will be milder but windy with rain on Saturday and windy with scattered showers and sunny spells on Sunday.