KENT has been turned into a winter wonderland as snow, forecast but deceptively absent for several days, finally arrived to blanket the area.

The sudden flurry caught many people unawares and roads and pavements quickly disappeared beneath several inches of snow.

In its wake came a spate of accidents as motorists struggled to cope with icy, slippery conditions, and pedestrians also found the going tricky before council teams were able to fight back with salt and grit. Meanwhile, children had the treats of sledging, snowball fights and the chance to build snowmen.

Overnight temperatures plummeted, and icy patches were again a problem for those out and about early on local roads.

On the A21 at Lamberhurst, the Monday morning peak traffic flow was badly disrupted after an articulated lorry jack-knifed, and many untreated lanes became skating rinks for vehicles due to black ice.

The Meteorological Office issued a severe weather warning for Kent for the early part of the day, with the east of the county expected to be worst affected by further snow showers. The rest of the week is likely to remain cold.