Toyota Motor said Monday it had temporarily suspended operations at its key plants in Japan due to heavy snowfall, adding that it expected little impact on production.

The firm brought a halt to operations at its 11 factories in Aichi prefecture, central Japan, at around 4:00 pm (0700 GMT) as snow disrupted auto parts delivery as well workers commuting there.

Toyota had earlier said 12 plants would be affected.

"We will resume operations by Tuesday morning," said Toyota spokesman Paul Nolasco, adding that the world's top automaker plans to make up for the expected delay in production by adding extra working hours later.

Suzuki Motor also temporarily put off operations at its three factories in Shizuoka, central Japan, due to the snow, Jiji Press said, adding that the carmaker would also resume operations Tuesday.

The Japan meteorological agency has warned of heavy snowfall across a wide area of the country, which has already caused transport disruptions including a delay in "Shinkansen" bullet train operations in central Japan.