Big freeze worsens to new low
Britain's cold snap has plunged to shivering new lows as forecasters warned that freezing fog would bring chaos on the roads.
Southern England, normally immune to the worst of the weather, was gripped by conditions colder than parts of Iceland and Greenland as temperatures fell close to minus 12C (10.4F).
Milder weather was predicted but forecasters warned that driving conditions would be worse than ever.
Police in Ebbw Vale, south Wales, warned teenagers they are risking their lives by cycling across the frozen Festival Park lake, which is more than 20ft deep in some parts.
Residents in the nearby Rhondda Fach area were without normal water supplies for a second day because the cold snap has affected water pipes supplying Maerdy Water Treatment Works.
Welsh Water has apologised to customers and sent water bowsers to the area. It is also distributing water bottles to customers with special needs and parents with young babies.
Gareth Harvey, a forecaster for MeteoGroup UK, the weather division of the Press Association, said a combination of a front of freezing fog and black ice would make conditions for drivers even more perilous.
He said: "Southern England will still be coldest tonight but temperatures are unlikely to fall lower than minus 5C (23F). Fog patches will be freezing and there will still be a lot of ice. This is a dangerous combination."
People across England were greeted with a light dusting of snow as they woke up. Areas of Cumbria witnessed up to 3in (8cm) of snow. Icy road warnings were in force for north-west England, Yorkshire and Humber, and the East and West Midlands.
Thanks to the cold snap, heating bill pay-outs to pensioners and the vulnerable have now topped £100 million as the Government stepped in to help.
