An amber weather warning has been put in place by the Met Office as heavy snow is set to fall.
In the North East, the warning covers Newcastle, Northumberland, County Durham and Gateshead.
It will be in place from 3pm on Wednesday until 10am on Thursday.
The Met Office is predicting that up to 20cm of snow could fall in some areas on higher ground while up to 10cm could fall elsewhere.
The warning states: "Rain will turn to snow across Scotland on Wednesday afternoon and evening, initially on high ground, but increasingly to lower levels.
"During Wednesday evening and night the risk of snow will extend southwards into more of northern England.
"10 to 20 cm snow is likely to accumulate above 200 metres with greater amounts at higher elevations.
"Amounts at low levels (below 100 metres) are less certain, but 5 to 10 cm is likely in some places by Thursday morning.
"Snow will persist into Thursday morning, slowly dying out during the afternoon."
An amber warning is the second most severe the Met Office can issue, behind a red warning. An amber warning states "there is the possibility of travel delays, road and rail closures, power cuts and the potential risk to life and property".
What to expect
- Travel delays on roads are likely, stranding some vehicles and passengers
- Some delays and cancellations to rail and air travel are likely
- There is a good chance that some rural communities could become cut off
- Power cuts are likely and other services, such as mobile phone coverage, may be affected
