After the region was hit by the first major snowfall of the winter on Sunday and earlier today, forecasters have provided an update on whether there will be another wintry blast tonight and early tomorrow morning.

The Met Office has extended its yellow weather warnings for snow and ice to cover the East of England from 3pm earlier today (Monday) until 11am on Tuesday. It states cloud and wintry outbreaks should gradually become confined to the east but there will be clearer skies in the west, meaning temperatures could fall to well below freezing.

Settled snow turned into treacherous ice and caused disruption across the region today. A number of schools closed in Suffolk and Essex.

For instant updates on school closures, visit the Suffolk emergency school closure website or log onto the Essex school closures page.

Adam Drury, forecaster at Weatherquest, said: “The eastern side of the region could get wintry showers from the north for the majority of the night and into the early hours.

“There could be wintry flurries between now and midnight, mostly on the eastern side of the region, but most of Suffolk has potential in the evening to see a wintry shower. There could be some on the eastern side at 7pm or 8pm.

“During the second half of the night, in western parts, it could be as low as -3C (26.6F) or -4C (24.8F), due to clear skies developing at around 5am or 6am.

“It will freeze first thing tomorrow. Any untreated surfaces are going to see ice, so drive carefully. There will be some ice on the windscreens to de-ice.

“It will be a dry day mainly tomorrow, cloudy with patchy rain, and temperatures could reach 4C (39.2F) or 5C (41F).

There are some cooler temperatures coming down from the north on Friday, bringing temperatures down to about -1C (30.2F) first thing on Saturday. But it should be milder by Sunday.”