Wintry blizzards are continuing to cause havoc in some parts of the UK.

Schools in Northern Ireland, Scotland and northern England closed on Monday after heavy snowfalls and high winds.

Motorists experienced traffic chaos, although most major roads reopened during the morning.

More snow is forecast in those areas on Monday night, with drifting snow and ice making driving conditions treacherous.

Northern Ireland is under a blanket of snow

Police in parts of Northern Ireland and Scotland have warned drivers to make journeys with extreme caution.

Gritters and snowploughs have been in action to clear roads, including the Glenshane Pass from Belfast to Londonderry, which reopened after being closed overnight.

Roads in Carrickfergus in County Antrim have not been gritted and there has been heavy snowfall around the Sandyknowes area of the M2.

Thousands of drivers were held up in tailbacks in the morning rush-hour.

Several schools across the province were shut for the day.

There was a similar picture in Scotland, where 30,000 pupils stayed at home in the north.

Collisions

Rescue teams have been using a tracked vehicle and ski bikes to try to find a hillwalker trapped by bad weather in the Cairngorm mountains.

There have been minor accidents across Scotland and people in Inverness and Dumfries have been warned not to drive at all.

South Yorkshire police closed the M1 northbound at junction 36, where weather conditions were still making driving hazardous.

A police spokeswoman said the closure was the result of a number of collisions on the northbound carriageway.

Minor roads have not been gritted

Nearly 60 primary and secondary schools in Cumbria have been closed by snow and freezing weather.

A Cumbria police spokesman said the A6 at Shap and the A686 were closed.

He added: "A lot of minor roads are also closed because of the snow and they will not have been gritted. Many isolated villages are also affected."

Milder weather

Traffic police asked motorists to avoid a stretch of the M6 motorway in Cheshire following a series of minor crashes in which eight adults and four children suffered minor injuries.

Officers said it was too early to say if bad weather played a part in the collisions, which happened just south of Sandbach and followed an earlier snow shower.

Penny Tranter, of the BBC Weather Centre, said strong and cold winds are expected across the UK over the next few days.

But Thursday would bring milder and wetter weather, she added.

Most of eastern England and the south have recovered from heavy snow storms last week.

The blizzards paralysed much of the region as roads, rail and the London Underground were brought to a virtual halt.