Snow hits London LIVE: Whiteout as capital hit by WALL OF SNOW in huge blizzard
LONDON has been hit by a wall of snow in a huge blizzard as the UK is rocked by bone-chilling temperatures, ice and wintry weather from the 'Beast from the East'. The snow fell lightly at first but quickly picked up speed as forecasters warned the freezing Siberian winds gripping Britain could be the coldest the UK has faced in 27 years.
London has been hit by a wall of snow
And as the flurry took hold and snow thickened at around 2pm, it became impossible to see in front of you, with even major landmarks blurry.
Joseph Patrick, who works in the City of London, described how the capital became a "winter wonderland".
He said: "It was amazing because I was one side of the Thames and I couldn't see the other side. I have never seen that in my life. "I just hope we can all get home okay."
The Met Office issued an amber warning for snow and ice across the capital as temperatures plummetted to an Arctic -3C.
Heavy snowfall and freezing temperatures are causing travel disruption across the country as the wintry weather spiralling in from the artic is on path to do its worst.
Londoners on the outskirts of the city woke up to snow this morning as it hit Dartford and Bexley first before moving into the city centre this afternoon.Met Office warns of 'bitter winds' and '40cm of snow'
Snow flurries across South East London should last for the next 2 hours as the band of weather travels west.
Sub-zero temperatures, ice and heavy wintry downpours threaten power cuts, travel chaos and loss of mobile phone signals.
It comes amid warnings that the mercury could plummet to minus 15C by midweek where there is on the ground, rivalling temperatures forecast for parts of northern Norway and Iceland.The capital was covered in thick snow
The storm, named by the Portuguese Met Service, will move north through Europe and is due to hit the UK on Thursday and Friday, and will be "significantly disruptive", bringing the risk of power cuts and transport delays.
And the extraordinary cold weather will continue when on Wednesday parts of the UK, including Cardiff and Norwich, will shiver to atmospheric temperatures of -16C as the air from the east blows in.