Kent's weather has gone a bit freaky today - with parts of the county covered in a blanket of the white stuff!

But, just weeks after the county basked in temperatures in the 20s, we're not set for snow storms and drifts just yet.

This picture, sent in by reader Ben Watson, shows what has been described as three inches of hailstones.

Settling in Saltwood near Folkestone, the shower is said to have spooked the animals at nearby Port Lympne wild animal park.

The weather was described by experts at the Met Office as not unusual.

A spokesman said a hailstone fall recently in Devon had reached two or three feet.

Hailstones can range from the size of a pea to the size of an orange, she said.

They are formed in storm clouds when ice crystals from high in the cloud fall to a lower level but are thrown up again by powerful updraughts, collecting layes of ice by aggregation.

Hail has been in the forecast for the Kent area for the last couple of days.

Local weatherman Lester Gosbee said it's not unusal for this time of year: "It's actually less likely to get hail in winter as the air is much colder and the sun is much weaker and you don't get the temperatures needed to form the clouds the hail falls from."

A Kent police spokesman advised motorists to adapt their driving after the sudden downpours affecting the east of the county.

But we're awaiting confirmation that the hail or other downpours caused crashes on the M20.

Racing at Folkestone had to be abandoned after surfaces became waterlogged.

Did you see the hailstones? Tell us about your experience, and send in your pictures tomultimediadesk@thekmgroup.co.uk