I'm giving this post a thread of its own. It may come to nothing and I may end up being thought about as rather like 'Chicken little' but I'm somewhat surprised that though the met office have a number of advisories up they aren't advising about this aspect.
The forecast (and remember things change!) for Friday looks very interesting . A weather system moves across from the NW to the SE. It could end up being a rain/sleet/wet snow/freezing rain situation.
In particular I think people should be aware that evening rush-hour could be nightmarish for some in the SE and CS England - the councils are going to have a real challenge to work out when to grit. Too early - and it gets washed away - too late and the snow starts laying while the traffic is slower and the gritters can't do anything.
So, if you have rain Friday afternoon, keep a really close eye on the temps and how hard the rain falls - heavy rain when temps are close to freezing can under some conditions turn to snow and if you need to travel Friday afternoon/evening be aware that the traffic situation could possibly become rather horrid and standstillish. (rather like the week Monday before Christmas last year in fact)
Will try to update daily and let you know if this event is getting more or less likely to occur.