A spooky mist scene over fields in Whittington this morning. Picture by Simon Williams

An end to the cold snap gripping Shropshire and Mid Wales is in sight – but not before freezing fog and temperatures take hold tonight.

Forecasters said patches of hard-to-shift fog and ice would mean dangerous driving conditions in parts of England and Wales today and tomorrow, with temperatures falling as low as -3C (27F) tonight.

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But John Warner, Shropshire Star weatherman, said the “big freeze” was almost over.

He said: “We still have some freezing fog and frost coming tonight which will be a problem for driving around.

“But the wind starts to pick up during tomorrow night and over the weekend.

“The wind will get stronger from the south/south west, which will mean no more snow or frost.

“There will be periods of rain on Sunday and temperatures will reach 10C (50F).

“Next week looks like more traditional January weather with the south west winds coming from the Atlantic instead of the continental winds we had over December and the start of this month.”

Freezing mist and fog around Whittington, near Oswestry, overnight caused eery and seasonal scenes across the countryside.

And freezing temperatures have caused havoc with water pipes, causing several properties in the county to flood.

Fire crews were called out to two empty properties in Shropshire today after neighbours saw flood water coming from them.

Severn Trent Water has warned people to be extra vigilant and check for burst pipes. Freezing water expands the pipes and can cause them to crack or split, leading to leaks when the ice melts back to water.

A crew from Telford attended a second-floor flat in Broadway, Shifnal, at midnight. Matt Lamb, crew manager, said the flat was empty so the crews located the stop cock and stopped the leak.

Shrewsbury firefighters were called to a five-storey building next to The Vaults Pub in Castle Gates, in the town, at 12.30am after a water pipe burst.

Cameron Taylor, of Shrewsbury fire station, said: “The cause of the flooding was a pipe coming from the heater tank. Because the building was unoccupied there was no heating and with the cold snap the water had frozen.”

Meanwhile councils have warned that tens of thousands of pensioners could die as a result of the prolonged cold snap. 

The Local Government Association said the number of deaths caused by the winter chill might exceed last year’s figure of 25,000.