WEATHER warnings for snow and ice are in force across Dorset today and tomorrow.

A yellow alert is valid until just before midnight on Sunday for Bournemouth, Poole, Purbeck, Christchurch and East Dorset.

There is no snow forecast in Bournemouth this afternoon, but further snow showers are set to fall from 9pm until 5am tomorrow.

An amber alert - meaning be prepared - was issued for north and western parts of the county today, but the Met Office issued an update this afternoon to say it no longer affected Dorset.

Under the yellow warning, the Met Office says not all places will see snow showers but where they do occur, there could be accumulations of between 3 and 6cms of snow. 

Tonight it could feel like minus 6C. 

A warning for ice has also been issued for Monday, which is valid from just after midnight until 10am.

A spokesperson for the Met Office said: "After a very cold day on Sunday, temperatures are likely to fall well below freezing across much of the country into the start of Monday.

"This will lead to any melted snow refreezing, whilst coasts exposed to the northeasterly wind will continue to see further wintry showers at times, these falling onto subzero surfaces."

A Severe Weather Emergency Protocol (SWEP) has been triggered for Bournemouth and Poole, which started on Saturday. 

Anyone who sees someone sleeping rough can report it at streetlink.org.uk. 

The cold snap is set to be short-lived with temperatures climbing again early next week.

Green Flag has revealed 10 breakdowns every minute are expected over the weekend, with a staggering 28,000 breakdowns set to occur on Saturday and Sunday alone.