Britain shivers as temperatures plunge amid heavy snowfall

London: The bad news? Nearly a foot of snow in parts of the country on Saturday. The really bad news? This big freeze will last for two weeks.

On the back of the heaviest November snowfall for 17 years, forecasters say parts of the country will be blanketed by 10 inches of the white stuff yesterday, with temperatures plummeting to -6C.

Dozens of schools and roads were closed by Friday's snowfall, while a plane with 196 passengers struggled to land in icy conditions at Newcastle airport.

Little let-up

Up to 8 inches (20cm) of snow was recorded in Yorkshire and the Highlands, while Wales and the South West had at least 2 inches (5cm). And there will be little let-up as forecasters warned of large swathes of the country being blanketed in snow by the middle of next week.

About 10 inches (25cm) of snow is expected to fall over higher ground in the North East and Scotland yesterday, and London and parts of the Midlands could also experience light snow.

The cold spell is predicted to last for ten to 14 days as biting winds swoop in from the North Sea and night-time temperatures plummet to -5C and -6C in some places.

Daytime temperatures did not get much above freezing in some parts of the country Friday, while temperatures plunged to -9.1C at Redesdale Camp in Northumberland.

One of the coldest places overnight on Friday was Trawscoed, in west Wales, where -10.2C was recorded. Dalwhinnie, in the Highlands, recorded -8.2C, and Chesham, in Buckinghamshire, -7C.

Newcastle airport closed for a short time after a pilot overshot the runway. No one on board the Thomsonfly Boeing 737-800, which was ferrying holidaymakers home from Lanzarote, was injured.

Shaking from side to side

Passenger Natalie Young, 29, of Sunderland, said the plane was shaking from side to side as it landed. It ended up in a field.

Met Office forecaster John Hammond said: "This snow we're seeing at the moment and expecting to see is the heaviest widespread snow since November 1993. Even where we haven't had any snow, temperatures are going down to -5C or -6C in several places."