Motorists faced icy conditions during rush hour as forecasters warned people to travel with care following low overnight temperatures.

The Met Office issued yellow weather warnings for most of Scotland, Northern Ireland, and north-west England, valid until 9.30am on Friday, which said icy stretches were likely to form on untreated roads amid near-freezing temperatures.

Perth and Kinross Council tweeted that there were “very icy conditions this morning throughout all domains” and said that crews were out treating carriageways and footways.

Elsewhere the snow gates were closed at Braemar and Spittal of Glenshee while further north Bear Scotland North West Trunk Roads said that gritters were “out working round the clock”.

The Met Office urged people not to cycle and to take extra care when driving or walking in icy conditions, and warned of possible longer journey times on roads and railways.

A cold start on Friday, with frost in places – especially the north west, was set to make way for a drier and brighter day with sunny spells.

Met Office chief meteorologist Frank Saunders said: “A ridge of high pressure builds on Friday resulting in a fine, bright day for most.

“However, the winds pick up again as we head into the weekend with weather fronts bringing rain to the north and west and milder air spreads back in here”.

The Met Office said the unsettled blustery weather will stay around over the coming days, especially in the north west, although conditions are not expected to be as severe as during the past week.

A number of weather fronts are set to cross northern parts of the country and bring bouts of wet and windy weather – while southern and eastern areas are in line for the best of the fine weather over the weekend, according to the service.

It described the jet stream, which has been driving storm systems across the North Atlantic Ocean in recent weeks, as still being very active but these winds are shifting further north and may allow for more settled weather to arrive next week.

Meteorologist Alex Deakin said the weather will “remain pretty lively over the next certainly four or five days, chopping and changing day-on-day”.

Saturday is expected to be breezy, while people in the north west have been told to brace for further strong winds and heavy rain on Sunday.

After a spell of rain across the UK on Monday, calmer weather is forecast from Tuesday, though clear skies could bring frosty mornings, the Met Office said.

The last week has seen storms Dudley, Eunice and Franklin cause problems across the country and around 400 properties have been flooded.

The Environment Agency had 25 flood warnings and 29 flood alerts in place in England on Friday morning.

On Thursday, snow led to school closures in some Scottish areas and caused difficult driving conditions.

Schools were also forced to shut and travellers faced disruption after much of Northern Ireland was blanketed by overnight snow.