A lorry driver was killed on Thursday as gales swept across parts of the country and forecasters warned of heavy snow and blizzards to come.

The lorry was blown over onto the central reservation on the M6 motorway in Cumbria, police said.

The Port of Dover was closed on Thursday morning after gusts made it too dangerous for ships to manoeuvre within the harbour.

Incoming passenger and freight ships have been forced to seek sheltered waters underneath cliffs along the shoreline, a spokesman for the port told BBC television.

Daytime temperatures are expected to drop to 5 degrees Celsius on Thursday, forecasters said, while overnight figures could reach minus 3 degrees in severe gales of up to 70 mph.

Snow drifts of about 10 cm are most likely to fall in western Scotland, Northern Ireland, western England and Wales, with up to 20 cm of snow expected on higher ground during Friday and Saturday.

"Gale force southwesterly winds are expected during Thursday morning. Gusts of 70 mph are possible at times," the Met Office said on its Web site.

"The Met Office is forecasting much colder weather to spread southwards across the UK during Friday and persisting into Saturday giving heavy snow in places."

Milder conditions are expected to return next week.