A week of warm spring sunshine came to an abrupt end today as parts of Britain woke up to snow and freak hailstorms.Icicles formed, sheep shivered and residential areas were battered as snow fell in the north while hailstones lashed parts of the south on what is officially the first weekend of spring.
Wide parts of Britain had a frosty start this morning with temperatures expected to plummet as low as -3C tonight across parts of northern England and Scotland.
Shivering: A week of warm sunshine was brought
to an abrupt halt today with parts of England waking up to snow.
Pictured: Icicles in Teesdale, County Durham
Nice to see you! Sheep gather at a stone wall covered in snow near Alston, Cumbria, in chilly weather
Snow day: Thomas Kingston, eight, with a sled
near Alston, Cumbria (left) and a ewe protecting her newborn lamb
against the elements in County Durham (right)
First weekend of spring: Temperatures are
expected to plummet as low as minus 3C tonight as the cold weather
continues with clear skies
What's this? A freak hailstorm hit Devizes in Wiltshire this afternoon, causing some confusion among locals - including the dogs
Freak hail: Children in Devizes, Wiltshire, were
able to collect entire jugs full of unusually large hailstones - even
as daffodils blossomed outside
Chilly: The freak hail spread as far as Southampton, pictured, leaving car bonnets covered in ice in the middle of the day
Collecting: Flora Keys Taylor with a jug of hail
in Devizes, Wiltshire. Low temperatures are expected to persist for
most of the rest of the week
Hailstorms surprised residents of Wiltshire and Hampshire this afternoon with some able to collect entire jugs of the balls of ice.
Army cadets and horses battled a hail shower at the Gatcombe Horse Trials at Gatcombe Park, the private country home of Princess Anne in Gloucestershire.
Meanwhile, two men are recovering after they had to be rescued from an attempt to climb Snowdon.
The pair, both 25 and from Walsall, sparked a full-scale emergency after they got caught up in a snowstorm yesterday afternoon.
A Sea King helicopter from RAF Valley in Anglesey could not reach them because of cloud, so four members of the Llanberis mountain rescue team were tasked to find the pair.
In a two-hour operation, the men, who were cold and exhausted, were helped back down the mountain to safety.
A mountain rescue spokesman said: 'They were not carrying the right equipment, such as ice axes, for the conditions and got stuck at an altitude of 2,500ft on the Crib Goch ridge.'
The unexpected weather - just two days after the spring equinox - is set to continue today with hail showers predicted in Kent and heavy rain showers predicted in the East Midlands and south east.
Otherwise, though, forecasters say last night's snow does not look like it will be repeated, with showers becoming increasingly confined to eastern Britain tonight with any remaining sleet and snow giving way to sunshine and light winds.
The wet and snowy weather took a brief pause this afternoon as the clouds parted and sunshine broke through long enough for rainbows to have been spotted in parts of London and Nottingham.
Meanwhile, the wintry weather took a break as a rainbow appeared above St Peter's church in Nottingham after a sudden downpour
And in London a colourful rainbow briefly broke out over the London skyline during a sunset rainstorm
Forecasters say last night's snow does not look
like it will be repeated, with showers becoming increasingly confined to
eastern Britain tonight with any remaining sleet and snow giving way to
sunshine and light winds
A rainbow also appeared over Regent's Canal in Hackney, East London amid a pause from the wet weather
Hit: Army cadets and horses battled a hail
shower at the Gatcombe Horse Trials today at Gatcombe Park, the private
country home of Princess Anne in Gloucestershire
Alpine scene: Driving conditions turned more
treacherous than usual for March in the pine forests of Cumbria,
pictured, after a dusting of snow
Caught out? This car was left abandoned after leaving the road in County Durham following heavy snowfalls overnight
Bad timing: The rush of cold weather comes as
animals lay eggs have have newborn young such as lambs (pictured) to
protect from the elements
Adorable: A ewe with her newborn lambs crosses a
snow-covered field in County Durham. Temperatures are not expected to
lift above 10C for most of this week
Most parts of Britain will have a dry, clear and cold night with a sharp frost.
Tomorrow rain and brisk winds will spread eastwards but many central and eastern parts of the UK should stay dry with sunny spells.
There will be no return to the warmth that saw people stripping off in parks and on beaches, however, with temperatures not expected to lift beyond 10C for most of the rest of the week.
At the world's only mute swan sanctuary in Abbotsbury, Dorset, the animals finished enjoying last week's warm weather just in time - with the laying of the first eggs of the year.
The first one was spotted on Thursday by deputy swanherd Steve Groves in a nest close to the feeding area at Abbotsbury Swannery, near Weymouth.
Now there are almost 20 as the numbers of swans making nests continues to increase.
Scores of swans return annually to Abbotsbury to raise their young, which usually hatch in the second and third weeks of May.
Idyllic: A remote home in the hamlet of Coalcleugh, Northumberland overlooks the snow covered West Allendale today
Hideaway: The traditional home with snow on the
roof, an unusual sign for March. Apart from some hail showers in Kent,
no more snow is predicted in the next few days
Mixed bag: The forecast for tomorrow and Tuesday
shows a mix of bright sunshine, cloud and heavy rain - so don't forget
your umbrella
The attraction, which has existed for at least 600 years, only opened to the public yesterday for the summer season after struggling through a winter beset by floods.
Dave Wheeler, head swanherd for more than 30 years, said: 'We didn't know what to expect because of the terrible floods - the site was submerged twice in February and a lot of things were damaged.
'Last year, the first egg was laid here on April 1 but back in 2012 the first egg was laid on March 14 - so we never can predict timings.
'The eggs are now coming thick and fast. We're not sure if we'll beat last year's total of 100 swan nests, but the first egg has been a good sign of things to come.'
Despite the rush of cold weather, so many eggs could prove a good omen, claimed Mr Wheeler.
'Old Dorset legend has it that the day of the hatching of the first cygnet is the first day of summer,' he said. 'If we assume that this first swan spends another week laying eggs, then summer could be just six weeks away.'
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