UK thaws, but weather fight remains
Britain remains in the grip of wintry weather despite the worst of the big freeze conditions easing slightly.
Many parts of the country were seeing some snow flurries, but with above-freezing temperatures for most areas, the situation on the ground was set to improve.
Milder weather on Sunday and lighter snowfalls than expected gave hope of progress in the battle to get transport networks, power and food supplies back to normal.
Hundreds of schools that were forced to shut last week were also reopening ahead of a crucial period of exams for many students.
There have been fears that last week's education disruption could spill over into this week and cause havoc for pupils. On Sunday Schools Secretary Ed Balls urged teachers to do "everything they could" to stay open.
Most of inland England will see maximum temperatures of around 2C on Monday, rising to 3C or 4C in the far south west. Scotland is due to fare a bit better, up to 3C inland and up to 6C on the far north coast.
But temperatures will remain freezing at night for the foreseeable future, with another band of snow forecast for many parts on Tuesday.
Julian Mayes, a senior forecaster with MeteoGroup, the weather division of the Press Association, said: "We have had a slow thaw in much of the country. Temperatures have managed to climb above zero in quite a lot of places. Generally things have got a good deal less severe.
"The next problem is going to come on Tuesday night, when a band of snow is going to come into Wales and south-west England, though hopefully it will not come too far inland, and may then turn to rain."
It is hoped the slight weather improvement will give breathing space for councils facing grit shortages. A fleet of lorries has been delivering 12,000 extra tonnes of de-icing salt made available by chemicals firm Ineos. The first 50 trucks left the firm's depot in Runcorn, Cheshire, on Sunday morning with another 50 scheduled to deliver more supplies.
