Parts of the country have been blanketed in a layer of snow as forecasters warned of possible disruption and plunging temperatures.
The Met Office has issued yellow warnings for icy patches and snow covering swathes of the eastern coast of England and northern Scotland, and for ice in western Wales, Cornwall and much of Northern Ireland.
Police forces across the country issued warnings to drivers to beware of icy roads.
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Residents in the North East of England and Scotland shared photos and videos of the snowfall on social media.
Among them was Twitter user Woody, who posted a short clip of a car park in North Skelton, Redcar and Cleveland, where vehicles were covered in snow.
Other videos showed snow swirling in blustery conditions.
The weather warning for the eastern UK said: “Wintry showers will bring an additional hazard and may lead to 2cm to 5cm of snow accumulating on ground above 100m, primarily over northern Scotland and north-east England.
“Some roads and railways are likely to be affected with longer journey times by road, bus and train services.”
Nineteen schools in Aberdeenshire have been closed due to the weather while others are partially closed.
Helen Roberts, a Met Office forecaster, said central parts of England will see cold autumn sunshine, with wintry showers most likely in eastern and northern parts of the UK.
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She said: “As the showers push further inland by this afternoon and this evening, we could see them pushing as far inland as the Midlands, and it could turn to sleet and snow.
“There could be an accumulation but probably not a lot, like the North York Moors, where we have already got a few centimetres.
“Otherwise it will feel cold, with temperatures in the low to mid single figures.
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“With the wind chill factor particularly it will feel quite a lot colder in some places. It will definitely feel sub-zero and a temperature of 3C could feel more like minus 3C.”
Ms Roberts said it was “not impossible” for the sleet and snow to reach northern and north-eastern parts of London on Thursday evening but added: “It would be fleeting and it would not settle.”
She added that Thursday night going into Friday could be the coldest of the season so far, with the mercury potentially sinking below the minus 6.3C recorded in Topcliffe, North Yorkshire, on November 25.
She said: “It could well fall below that to make it the coldest of the autumn. It would be isolated and more widely temperatures are likely to be between minus 4C and 2C so it will be a frosty start and there will be icy stretches.
“We are likely to see further warnings for ice tonight.”
Light snow began falling in central London on Thursday morning, although it did not settle.