Snow and black ice hamper Britain's big return to work... and Arctic chill is to last seven days

Snow, black ice and sub-zero temperatures created travel chaos for the big return to work today.

A wave of rain, sleet and snow moved down the UK overnight, turning to ice in many places as freezing conditions continued.

And Arctic weather is set to envelop large parts of Britain this week, with a belt of snow, sleet and fog expected for the next seven days.

Winter wakeup: Residents in Ingatestone, Essex, woke up to a white covering

The Met Office issued a severe weather warning for London and the surrounding region this morning, with widespread icy roads and pavements.

'It's going to be a bitterly cold morning,' said Dan Adamson, a forecaster at MeteoGroup UK. 'It's been a few years since it's been as cold as this.'

Britain is shivering in the icy grip of what is expected to become the longest cold snap in more than a decade.

The Met Office predicts temperatures could plummet to -9c in some areas tonight, ten degrees below the overnight average for January.

The south-east has borne the brunt of the severe weather with Benson in Oxfordshire and South Farnborough in Hampshire both hitting -9c on Saturday night.

Joy: Sophie Rhodes, six, from Cambridge, runs in the freshly fallen snow

Queen's view: A snowy St James Park next to Buckingham Palace this morning

This made it the coldest night there since 1997.

A Met Office spokesman warned of dangerous driving conditions today and throughout the week.

 

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'There will be accumulations of a centimetre of snow in places on the lower ground and a couple of centimetres over the hills,' he added.

The bitter weather is expected to continue without respite until the weekend. If it does, it would be the longest spell of cold weather since 1996.

Unusual visitor: This Snowy owl - normally only only found in cold regions of  China, Canada, Russia and Alaska - was spotted in  Zennor, near St Ives, Cornwall

Freezing: A dog on a frozen pond in Forest Gate, East London

A huge region of high pressure dominating the weather has caused a mass of cold air from the arctic or cold areas of the Continent to form close to Britain.

This has stopped milder, warming weather from the Atlantic making its way ashore, the Met Office spokesman said.

Technically known as 'blocking high pressure', such long spells of cold weather caused in this way do not usually arrive until February.

'We have had some quite mild winters in recent years and have not seen the likes of the current overnight low temperatures for five or ten years in many places,' the spokesman said.

Chilly seaside: A thin dusting of snow covers Brighton beach

Quacking ice: Ducks on a frozen pond at Lexden Park in Colchester, Essex

'It is very cold at the moment, but they are not record-breaking lows. We are just not used to it being this cold.'

But the cold snap had hundreds of birdwatchers in a flurry today - after attracting a majestic snowy owl to the village of Zennor near St Ives, Cornwall.

The beautiful white birds - usually only found only in China, Canada, Russia and Alaska - have only been seen in Britain before in the most northern Scottish islands.

Daytime temperatures are expected to hover between 1c and 4c (34-39f) in most parts of England today although bitter winds will make it feel much colder.

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That is still a long way from the UK's lowest recorded temperature of  - 27.7c (-17f), which was set in December 1995 in the tiny Scottish village of Altnaharra, Sutherland. 

The all-time low matched a temperature recorded in eastern Scotland both in 1895 and 1982.

The current bitter spell follows the coldest start to winter in three decades and a blast of snowy weather which hit Britain in early December.

Even so, 2008 is expected to be the tenth-warmest year since records began more than 150 years ago.

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