The first day of spring brought hazardous driving conditions as a band of Snow and sleet spread across Oxfordshire overnight.

Blizzard conditions left northern areas of the county suffering the worst of the freezing weather.

Snow and slush were up to three inches deep on some roads, and a number of accidents were reported, though no-one was hurt.

In the south of the county, the snow turned to heavy rain in the early hours and left large areas of surface water on many major roads.

But despite the downpour, Oxfordshire Fire Service reported a quiet night with no flooding alerts.

Early morning traffic built up north of Oxford after a lorry jack-knifed on the southbound carriageway of the A34 near Islip, blocking the inner lane and causing rush-hour queues. Elsewhere, the police had reports of an accident on the M40 between junctions 8 and 9, as well as on the A40 between Eynsham and Witney.

North of Abingdon on the A34, a lorry and car were in collision, and drivers pulled over to help push the badly damaged car to the hard shoulder to await recovery. A police spokesman said: "Considering the conditions, we got off very lightly."

Elsewhere, southern Britain suffered a battering as gales of up to 60mph were recorded on the south coast, and the wind-chill factor made the temperature feel as low as minus 5C in London.

A spokesman for the Meteorological Office said the harsh weather conditions were quite normal for the time of year, with snowfall often occurring as late as April.

He said: "Spring is notorious for weather that chops and changes as winter refuses to give way when we would like it to.

"Yesterday we had a band of snow moving west from Devon and South Wales to London. Combined with strong easterly winds of up to 60 mph, we saw heavy snowdrifts.

"The sea is still cold, which is why we still have snow but it should be up to about 11C or 12C at this time of year."

The freezing storms brought more misery for the farming community, with lambs frozen to death in exposed regions or dying of hunger as farmers were forbidden from moving animals due to the current foot-and-mouth restrictions.