Arctic winds sweep in with four inches of snow and -8C temperatures... seven days after Britain basked in the hottest day of the year

Commuters in the North of England faced frosty conditions on their way to work this morning as Cumbria, Northumberland and North Yorkshire were hit by a Met Office weather warnings for ice and snow. Heavy rain fell over much of England and temperatures dropped as low as -8C (18F) overnight at Dalwhinnie in the Highlands, a full 27C colder than this time last week in London which had the warmest day of the year at 19C (66F). The Met Office warned of the risk of up to 4in (10cm) of snowfall on high ground overnight into today. Pictured: Cars become stuck on snow-covered roads today in Hawes, North Yorkshire, as people use shovels to get through (left and top right), a diagram shows the snow cover in Britain today (inset left), and people bask in the sunshine on Southend seafront in Essex last Wednesday on the hottest day of 2017 so far (bottom right).