Britain set to thaw out slowly

The New Year began with frost and snow in many places

Freezing temperatures which saw in the New Year are forecast to change on Wednesday with a slow thaw across many parts of the country.

Many people woke up to a heavy layer of ice as once again temperatures dropped below freezing.

The AA said it was "deluged" with thousands of calls from motorists whose cars would not start in Wednesday morning's icy conditions.

But forecasters say the weather will pick up to reach as high as 8°C in some areas during the day.

However, there were still some hazardous driving conditions in some parts of the country.

Motorists in South Yorkshire battled against freezing fog as temperatures remained just above zero centigrade.

Police provided hot drinks and anti-freeze on the hard shoulder of the M1, M18 and the A1M as screen-wash froze solid on windscreens, forcing drivers to pull over.

Sergeant Steve Wain, of South Yorkshire Police advised motorists to not venture out unless their journeys were absolutely necessary.

At one point, the AA was taking 3,000 calls an hour, and more than 400 extra patrol staff were called in to help.

Sport abandoned

The New Year began with a frosty start which played havoc with the sporting calendar.

Arsenal's Premiership match at Leicester was called off, along with dozens of Nationwide League games, and rugby league fixtures were also affected.

Race meetings also suffered with Cheltenham, Plumpton, Catterick, Exeter and Leicester all abandoned.

The coldest temperature of 2002 so far were recorded at Sennybridge in Powys, Wales with the thermometer hitting -12°C on New Year's Day.

New Year revellers in London suffered temperatures of -2°C as they welcomed 2002 in Trafalgar Square and elsewhere.

Swans on Fairburn Ings near Castleford did not escape the freeze

A temperature of -10°C was recorded at Aberdeen in Scotland, -9°C in Hereford and in London it was -3°C by 0500GMT on Tuesday.

Temperatures are predicted to rise across the UK as the week progresses, but it could take a while in some places - North East England, and Scotland in particular.

Wednesday will see the sun shining in many places and overnight temperatures will start to rise, but a brisk wind will still mean it feels cold.

Frozen reservoir

Over the holiday break there were two deaths due to the icy conditions.

A 21-year-old man died on Sunday after slipping through the surface of a frozen reservoir.

The body of Yuie Wai Cheam was recovered from Harlaw Reservoir in Balerno, near Edinburgh on Sunday.

In Norfolk, a woman died and three others were injured when a car skidded on ice and collided head-on with another vehicle on the A148 in Gunthorpe.