The Met Office says that tonight will be the coldest night of the winter so far.

Freezing temperatures and widespread frost will hit the county overnight, with coastal areas likely to see the worst of the weather.

Gritters are already out in force and are treating priority roads across the county this afternoon. 



 

After a milder than average January the weather will deteriorate over the weekend and into the following week.

A forecaster at the Met Office said: "There are chances of snow and flurries on the hilltops but the coastal areas will see the worst of the weather. The will be a mix of rain, sleet and snow over the next few days."

Icy patches and showers will hit Cumbria overnight leaving a risk of poor road conditions for commuters in the morning.

The weekend will see a cold constant, the Met Office forecaster warned: "This cold weather is continuing into next week so over the next few days, we're certainly looking at a mix of rain, sleet and snow depending on where you are."

Saturday is set to see the mercury rise to 5C but with the risk of snow and sleet it will feel freezing. This will be the same for Sunday, the forecaster reports.

In rural areas temperatures are expected to drop as low as -6C and in built-up areas as low as -4C overnight. During the day tomorrow there will be highs of 4C with a wind chill of below freezing.

The forecaster continued: "We've had some mild weather so far in January, quite unusually, and this weather is to be more typical of what we would expect at this time of the year.

"These temperatures are below average though, so we're looking at some very chilly weather."