Cold leads to severe ice warnings in Devon and Cornwall

An ambulance crashed in Plymouth on its way to another emergency

More snow and freezing conditions across Devon and Cornwall will cause dangerous icy conditions on roads and pavements, forecasters have warned.

The Met Office has issued a severe weather warning for widespread ice as temperatures are expected to dip to -4C in Cornwall and -6C in Devon overnight.

There was major disruption on Wednesday after 18cm (7in) of snow fell.

About 460 schools closed, bus services were cancelled and flights at Plymouth and Exeter's airports were suspended.

Flipped car

There were a number of road accidents and collisions, including one incident involving an ambulance on an emergency call colliding with a car in Efford Lane, Plymouth.

Elsewhere in Devon, a car driver escaped with minor injuries when his car flipped on to its side at Lympston, near Exmouth.

The A361 North Devon Link Road was closed but was later reopened with drivers being advised to use caution.

The B3391 in the Blackdown Hills on the Devon/Somerset border was left inaccessible from Honiton.

Many bus services were cancelled, including those run by First Bus in north Devon.

Gritting is continuing across both counties

Flights in and out of Exeter and Plymouth airports were suspended, with aircraft being unable to use Exeter until 1600 GMT.

Newquay Airport stayed open but many flights were cancelled or delayed.

In Cornwall, 213 schools were closed and in Devon about 250 stayed shut.

The Eden Project in Cornwall remained closed for a second day because of the weather.

Business leaders said they were predicting that such closures and staff being unable to get to work meant the local economy was losing £10m a day.

Homeless support charities said they had seen an increase in clients.

The Salvation Army said its Devonport House building in Plymouth had seen a rise in the number of people on its Safesleep scheme.

Milk concerns

Dairy farmers said they faced having to throw away milk if tankers could not get through because of bad weather.

Police have advised drivers not go out unless it was absolutely necessary, especially overnight, and to be very careful first thing in the morning.

Officers are also reminding people to stay away from frozen waterways, including rivers, canals, ponds and reservoirs.

The force said: "It is almost impossible to gauge how deep any ice is and the potential danger to life if anyone falls through the ice is very high."

Cornwall Council said it was optimistic it had enough salt to cope as the severe weather continued.

Staff were conserving stocks by mixing it with grit, and only priority routes were being treated. The council added that 4,000 tonnes of salt was due to be delivered next Wednesday.

Buses stopped

Devon County Council said it was withdrawing its school buses from Thursday because of the bad weather.

It said they would remain out of service until they could safely be reinstated.

A number of Devon schools are to remain closed on Thursday, including: Bideford Community College, Broadhembury Primary, Burrington Primary, Chulmleigh Primary, East Anstey Primary, Lew Trenchard Primary, Marwood Primary, Oaklands Park Primary, Tavistock Community College and Teignmouth Community College.

In Cornwall, schools including Callington Community College, Callington Primary, Cardinham School, Coads Green Primary, Delaware School, Doubletrees School, Pencalenick School, St Cleer School, Trekenner School and Trewirgie Infant School are also to stay closed.