Balmy Britain... temps will hit 11C by Monday
THE thrills and chills of Storm Darcy will start to thaw from tomorrow as temperatures shoot up into double figures next week.
The natural ice wonders and homemade snow sculptures are on borrowed time as the arctic blast takes one last shot at the UK today.
Colliding fronts – warm air in the west meeting cold in the east – are set to result in snow and 40mph winds in Wales, the North West and Northern Ireland.
A Met Office spokesman said: “Milder air from the Atlantic starts to spread into the UK behind a series of weather fronts. These may stall where milder air meets cold air mass and we could see wintry hazards such as rain, sleet and snow, with freezing rain a possibility.”
Some were still enjoying the cold snap yesterday. Residents of Third Avenue in Frinton, Essex, built a line of snowmen which were given the seal of approval by a cardboard cut-out Boris Johnson.
Part of the River Thames froze at Teddington, south west London, after one of the coldest weeks on record. An RNLI spokeswoman said: “It’s not often the Thames freezes over. It’s quite spectacular.”
Crisp and clear conditions also led to some stunning sunrises, including across the capital’s Canary Wharf.
An intrepid climber tackled Kinder Downfall, a frozen waterfall in the Peak District National Park, near Hayfield, Derbyshire.
And one woman was seen pulling a child on a sledge past people queuing outside an Iceland store in North Shields in the North East.