IPSWICH Town fans are facing a treacherous journey to South Wales this morning after more snow flurries and icy blasts hit the region.

Russell Claydon

IPSWICH Town fans are facing a treacherous journey to South Wales this morning after more snow flurries and icy blasts hit the region.

A band of rain, sleet and snow swept across the county last night, freezing on road surfaces and causing hazardous driving conditions.

Gritters were out in force once again to lessen the impact of the icy spell which looks set to stay for up to two weeks, potentially making this winter the coldest for 18 years.

And forecasters have said more snow is heading Suffolk's way, most likely falling bringing up to two inches on Sunday night.

The county escaped the worst of the wintry weather again yesterday but snow storms caused a further day of havoc in much of the west of England and Wales and some parts of East Anglia.

The two Severn crossings between England and South Wales were closed after sheets of ice up to a metre square fell from overhead sign gantries and smashed the windscreens of five vehicles.

Both the M48 Severn Bridge and the M4 Second Severn Crossing were closed down, with more than 600 Ipswich fans due to travel to Swansea today.

But the Championship fixture looks set to beat the weather, with under soil heating in place at the Liberty Stadium.

Suffolk police have warned fans travelling to the game and other motorists using the counties roads to drive according to the conditions and allow plenty of time for journeys.

A sprinkling of snowflakes was seen in the county last night, but weather experts said people were more likely to wake up to black ice as it froze onto road surfaces.

Phil Garner, a forecaster with Norwich-based Weatherquest, said: “We are not expecting any more snowy weather tomorrow, in fact it will be quite the opposite; it will be fine, bright and sunny but the ice will not clear before 11am.

“Even with some sun it is still going to feel chilly - the top temperature is going to be 2-3C (35.6-37.4F).

“There will be another frost tomorrow night with temperatures as low as -5C (23F) and another fine day Sunday, with sunny conditions in the morning and a little more cloudy in the afternoon.

“There maybe another spill of snow Sunday night. At the moment it does not look like we will see very much but we may get some accumulation out of it.”

Rail services from Suffolk and north Essex to London were unaffected by the adverse weather yesterday, although National Express East Anglia reduced its Stansted Express service from one every 15 minutes to one every 30 minutes.

The rail operator did not foresee any problems this morning. But it did warn passengers travelling to Peterborough on Sunday there would be a bus replacement service between Ipswich and Bury St Edmunds, due to improvement works.

Suffolk County Council said in the worst case scenario it had enough salt reserves to cope for at least another five days, but is continuing to receive daily supplies to top it up.