TEMPERATURES plummeted last night as Worcestershire experienced the coldest night of the year.

The frost this morning left no doubt that it'd been a cold evening across the county in stark contrast to the mild temperatures seen throughout the year.

And the cold snap is set to continue, at least for the next few days.

Frank Hill, a Malvern weather expert, said the temperatures were not set to rise until the new year.

"I think we are into two or three cold nights now," said Mr Hill. "With the same sunshine and frost we have seen today. We could see -3 to -5 the next nights without any difficulty.

"The minimum temperature here last night was -3.4, the coldest this winter, and this year. It's beaten the January low of -3.1.

"We get the wind of the Malvern Hills here so we are slightly warmer than other places.

"But it would be normal to get -5 to -10, we are still some way off the coldest temperatures, as January and February are normally the colder months.

"Later in the week it looks like we will get some disturbed weather and temperatures going up to 7 or 8. New Year's Eve night should be clear."

On Twitter Dave Throup, from the Environment Agency, reported temperatures had dropped to -6 in Pershore.

The Met Office has warned of the dangers by issuing a cold weather alert on its website.

The website states: "There is a 90 percent probability of severe cold weather/icy conditions/heavy snow between 3pm on Friday and 12pm on Wednesday in parts of England.

"This weather could increase the health risks to vulnerable patients and disrupt the delivery of services."

The frosty snap has prompted photographers to capture some images of Worcestershire.

Jan Sedlacek, of Digit Light at facebook.com/Digitlight, caught an impressive shot of the Malvern Hills from Bromyard.

He said: "It is the place to keep an eye on when it comes to all sorts of weather and light phenomenons happening around Malvern. Whenever there is something exceptional happening light, frost, mist, floods, meteor showers, weather or seasons, day and night I tend to use these for my fine art landscapes and to capture it for others to see."

Evesham councillor Mark Goodge also caught frost over the Battleton Brook, in Evesham, on his camera and Andy Jeanes captured how it looked in Tibberton.