Huge swathes of Britain face more snow disruption as forecasters extended warnings over frost and ice to cover the rest of this week.

Snow ploughs battled to keep the M6 motorway clear in Cheshire on Tuesday and Transport for London (TfL) issued a captial-wide alert.

The Met Office said a weather system from France had “clashed” with cold air over the UK, bringing with it the chance of severe snow disruption until Friday.

“Snow and ice may bring disruption to parts of England and Wales from Thursday afternoon through to early Friday,” the service said in an update.

Separate warnings are in place for overnight on Tuesday into Wednesday.

Chief meteorologist at the Met Office, Paul Gundersen, earlier cautioned: “It’s not possible at this stage to be certain where exactly will see the worst impacts of any snow.

“People need to be prepared for the possibility of disruption and make sure they check the forecast regularly.

“Areas of higher ground are most likely to see significant snowfall, so it’s particularly important to take extra care when planning and travelling in those places.”

The forecaster added: “There is the risk of further disruptive snow and ice to parts of the country towards the end of the week, most likely south and central UK. 

“However, there is still some uncertainty about the exact track of this system and therefore where we will see impacts from any potential extreme weather.”

TfL said it would introduce special de-icing trains on London Underground and Overground overnight while roads, cycle lanes and major footways would be cleared.

Police in Scotland warned drivers to take extra care, meanwhile, after officers found one motorist driving along a busy road with just a small square cut through thick snow on their windscreen.

The driver was pulled over on the A9 in Caithness and given a fixed penalty notice.

The force said: “Winter has been biting for most of us this week, which means it is more important than ever that your vehicle is suitably prepared for the roads. Unfortunately not everyone follows this advice.”

Local authorities earlier told HuffPost UK they were preparing to kickstart emergency measures to keep roads open and accommodate rough sleepers.

A spokesperson for Glasgow Council said it expected to use 500 tonnes of salt over the coming day in a bid to keep priority carriageways safe.

Meanwhile, Cardiff Council said it had extra beds available for homeless people to use as temperatures plummet.