SNOW suddenly sheeted down on Kent this morning, leaving white blankets in some areas.

The snow suddenly came down at around 8.30am in North Kent, quickly whiting over Medway.

Sunday morning motorists travelled cautiously in the tricky conditions and gritters were called out to make the roads safer.

Snow also fell in other parts of Kent, including Maidstone.

Kent Police said they were monitoring the situation and said the conditions were still safe to drive in, provided motorists took care.

Insp Nigel Shambler, at Kent Police Headquarters, said: "We are monitoring the situation. It is not too savage at the moment and we are not at this stage suggesting that motorists should stay at home.

"But we are advising them to drive carefully and responsibly in these conditions."

The bad weather struck areas such as Medway, Maidstone and Canterbury.

By 10am a layer of snow covered roads such as the A2 just south-east of Canterbury and heavy snowfall fell in nearby villages such as Denton.

At the eastern end of the county areas such as Deal still remained untouched until the first snowflakes at 10.15am.

Snow was reported to have fallen across much of the UK overnight with forecasters warning that more was on the way.

The bad weather had also struck around the UK, in northern England and north Wales.