THE West of Scotland was hit by a wintry cold snap today, but at least the rain has gone.

Gritters were out in force across the city as drivers faced difficult conditions, with a high risk of black ice from flood water freezing. But Glasgow is expected to avoid heavy snow, although the city will shiver in some of the lowest temperatures of the winter so far with temperatures falling to -1C (30F).

However, cold winds, sleet, rain and snow are set to batter most of Scotland for the next four days with temperatures predicted to plunge even lower.

Heavy snow was predicted today for the Highlands, with blizzards also expected to bring road chaos to parts of England.

But Glasgow was set to escape the worst of the weather. Met Office forecaster Peter Sloss said: "Today will be sunny, dry and cold. But it will be cloudy in the Glasgow area tomorrow with a high risk of rain and sleet." Matt Dobson at MeteoGroup UK added: "Tuesday will be the coldest day of the week in the Glasgow area. You are looking at freezing temperatures all day."

The rest of the week will remain cold and dry across the West of Scotland with sub-zero temperatures during the night. Motorists will have to scrape ice from their vehicles first thing in the morning.

Several inches of snow closed roads across England last night as Britain braced itself for the coldest spell of the winter so far.

The Met Office today issued severe weather warnings for every region in England - apart from East Anglia and London.

But a snow shortage in the Cairngorms did not deter organisers of Britain's biggest husky event at the weekend.

Around 1000 dogs took part in the Arden Grange Aviemore Sled Dog Rally around Loch Morlich. Sleds couldn't be used because there wasn't enough snow so competitors raced each other with three-wheeled rigs.