As vast swathes of the UK face freezing temperatures over coming days, people are already meeting the challenges and enjoying the opportunities presented by the wintry weather.
With heavy snowfall, huge temperature drops, and a month’s worth of rain forecast in pockets of England and Scotland, some hardy souls – like Alice Goodridge, from Newtonmore, in the Scottish Highlands – are getting stuck in.
Al and Alice Goodridge use a sledgehammer and axe to create a channel in the ice in Loch Insh, in the Cairngorms National Park, for Alice to swim in (Jane Barlow/PA)Ms Goodridge then finesses her work… (Jane Barlow/PA)before jumping in … (Jane Barlow/PA)… then taking a rest (Jane Barlow/PA)Ms Goodridge also took the plunge in the frozen waters of the River Calder in Glen Banchor in the Cairngorms (Jane Barlow/PA)Ms Goodridge swimming in the freezing waters (Jane Barlow/PA)Meanwhile, rain was the order of the day in other parts of the UK, with this cricket pitch in Wraysbury, Berkshire, flooded (Jonathan Brady/PA)And this road, past Cookham Moor, was closed after the Thames burst its banks near the Berkshire village (Pete Clifton/PA)Meanwhile, these people walking past a Vaccination Centre sign at the Royal Highland Show ground in Edinburgh, needed an umbrella (Andrew Milligan/PA)Senior gardener Andrea Topalovic Arthan cleared a path around the first snowdrops of the season at English Heritage’s Audley End House and Gardens in Saffron Walden in Essex (Joe Giddens/PA)The first snowdrops at the heritage site (Joe Giddens/PA)The day got off to a beautiful start, with this sunrise over West Park, Long Eaton, in Derbyshire (Scott Wilson/PA)