The UK DfT had made the limited emergency decision to relax its enforcement of EU drivers' hours laws for distributing animal feed to farms effective until 11 January.

Such concessions were deemed "vital" by the Agricultural Industries Confederation (AIC) chief executive David Caffall, in light of the worsening road conditions owing to the snowy weather.

He said: "The continued icy weather and ungritted roads in many rural areas have led to our members making less than half their normal deliveries in affected areas.

"With many drivers coming to the end of their weekly hours allowance we were facing a serious risk of livestock farmers running out of feed."

However, concerns could be set to re-emerge this week, with the relaxation coming to an end at midnight on 11 January.

This is despite the Met Office issuing a number of early warnings for severe or extreme weather for the early part of this week, predicting heavy snow for most UK regions.