Snow could fall in the Sahara

Snow could fall in the Sahara desert, say forecasters, as Arctic conditions grip Europe and beyond. Snow is being forecast as far south as London - and charities are warning that thousands of elderly people will die between now and March because of the cold.

The Met Office has issued its first 'severe' weather alert for the whole of England and the army is on standby should conditions deteriorate to a 'major cold weather incident' level. Temperatures have been on a downward trajectory since a mass of cold air moved towards Britain from Siberia last week, with daytime temperatures around five degrees lower than normal for February and warnings that they could fall as low as -11C.

Have we all got our bags of rock salt, then?