UK weather: Homeless man 'freezes to death' while sleeping in car in Nottingham as temperatures plunged to -10C

A homeless man reportedly froze to death while sleeping in a car as temperatures plunged to as low as -10C. Police officers could be seen on social media footage huddled around a black car which was covered in frost, with an ambulance parked nearby.

Firefighters had to be called to cut his body free. According to local residents in Beeston, Nottingham, the man had relied on the car for warmth and shelter as the cold snap hit the UK. The authorities had been made aware of his perilous situation, according to reports on social media.

One resident told the MailOnline: "People tried to get help for the poor guy in the past. What an awful and tragic waste of a life. What is society coming to when a homeless person can freeze to death on a street in Britain?"

Nottinghamshire Police said they were called following reports of a man’s sudden death and cordoned off the scene on Friday morning (1 December). Police remained there until the evening.

In a statement, Detective Inspector Claire Gould described the incident as “tragic” but said it was not being treated as suspicious. She said: "Police were called to Dallas York Road, Beeston, at around 10am (1 December) following reports of a man's sudden death. Our thoughts are with this man's family and friends at this difficult time." A file was being prepared for the coroner.

It comes as Britain's snow misery is set to continue after the Met Office has extended snow and ice warnings into next week across much of Scotland, as well as northern England and the Midlands. A snow and ice warning is in place from 5pm today until 12pm on Monday (4 December) across Scotland, while a separate ice warning is in place over the same period across much of northern England and the Midlands. 

Cumbria Police urged people not to travel to the county today as it declared a major incident because of heavy snowfall there. The force added that some highway teams had been "verbally abused" as they attempted to deal with the situation.

The Met issued a yellow warning for ice from midnight until 11am on Sunday in Cumbria and north Lancashire, stating that a "few snow flurries may continue into the early hours of Sunday, but the main hazard will be refreezing of any melted snow, or freezing of lying snow".

The weather service has issued a yellow weather warning for snow and ice from 6pm on Saturday to 12pm on Sunday covering much of the Midlands, Yorkshire, the north east and north west of England, and north and central Wales. It said that while not everywhere will see accumulating snow, some places are likely to see 1-3cm, with 5-10cm possible over some hills and mountains in Wales, the Peak District and South Pennines.