The big freeze of 1962-63

In the shadow of Buckingham Palace, skaters and sliders take to the ice of the frozen St James's Park lake, in London Photograph: PA Archive

Two men waiting in the snow at a bus stop, in Kent, during heavy snow Photograph: Evening Standard/Getty Images

It isn't every day one has the chance of riding along or over the river Thames. But that chance came to cyclist David Joel as he took to the frozen river near Windsor Bridge Photograph: PA Archive/Press Association Images

Policemen and ambulancemen sitting on the touchline at White Hart Lane football ground, during a blizzard Photograph: Fox Photos/Getty Images

Giant snowman measuring 17ft built by two girls in Aberdeen, Scotland Photograph: Popperfoto

A milkman doing his deliveries on skis at Earls Court, London
Photograph: Express/Getty Images

A man peers into a car stuck in a snowdrift to check if there are people inside, on the Eastbourne-Brighton road, in Sussex Photograph: Popperfoto/Getty Images

A bus drives through heavy snow in Epsom, Surrey Photograph: Popperfoto/Getty Images

Stranded families, cut off by deep snow in the Lammermuir Hills, Scotland, greet an RAF helicopter delivering supplies to isolated farms Photograph: Bentley Archive/Popperfoto/Getty Images

Royal Marines use a snowplough to try to clear snow on the Whiddon Down-Exeter road Photograph: Popperfoto/Getty Images

City workers queueing for a bus in the snow and slush at London Bridge on a winter's morning Photograph: Douglas Miller/Getty Images

Actor Tony Britton rolling a snowball in Battersea Park Photograph: S&G and Barratts/EMPICS Archive

A man clears ice from a frozen lake to make a space for the ducks and swans Photograph: Evening Standard/Getty Images

Grass covered in icicles seen in the West Country near Exford, in Somerset Photograph: Fox Photos/Getty Images

A skier being pulled along behind a car in Earls Court, London Photograph: Express/Getty Images

Leyton Orient manager Johnny Carey (right) looks on as a member of the Brisbane Road ground staff tries to break the ice covering the pitch with a rotavator in a vain attempt to get the pitch playable for the Third Round match against Hull City Photograph: S&G and Barratts/EMPICS Sport