A highly-skilled team of volunteers are on stand-by to rescue motorists trapped in the snow this week as weather chiefs predict flurries across the county over the coming days.

The Met Office issued a yellow weather warning over the weekend, for a period starting at 9pm tonight and finishing at midday on Wednesday.

As a result, a number of organisations are preparing to battle the harsh conditions, including South East 4x4 Response, which works in extreme weather to support other emergency and council services when they are at fully capacity or unable to reach certain areas.

The charity, which has around 100 members in all areas of the county, ranging in age from 18 and 60, recently celebrated its 10th anniversary and has been mobilising this week in preparation for the anticipated snow and ice.

The volunteers were singled out for special praise by Kent Police for their help last year, when the county was hit by particularly adverse weather in February and March.

Alan Moles from South East 4x4 Response said: "We've just put all our members on 72-hour stand-by, which essentially means at any point we could get a call out to help someone.

"Generally that would involve checking our trucks and checking that we've got all the relevant gear, filling up on fuel, and ensuring we're ready to go as soon as we get the call.

"Last year the difficult weather went on for quite some time.

"It's anyone's guess at the moment whether we'll see anything similar this year but we will be ready for the next couple of months."