Britain’s countryside sat under a shroud of thick snow on Thursday, turning much of the ancient landscape into a postcard scene of idyllic beauty. Scotland, northeast England, Yorkshire, the Midlands and East Anglia have been veiled by the flurries, with the cold snap set to reach as far south as Devon, Cornwall and Kent.
Forecasters warn temperature could plunge to minus 15 degrees, with Northern Ireland and Scotland likely to see another 10cm of fall in the coming days. The cold weather follows an exceptionally mild December in the UK, which recorded the warmest temperatures for that month since records began in 1910.