In Pictures: Ice, rain and signs of spring from across the UK

PA Reporter

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, from Newtonmore, use a sledgehammer and an axe to create a channel in the ice in Loch Insh, in the Cairngorms National Park, for Alice to swim 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)
Alice Goodridge, from Newtonmore, uses a sledgehammer to create a channel in the ice to swim in Loch Inch, in the Cairngorms National Park
Ms Goodridge then finesses her work… (Jane Barlow/PA)
Alice Goodridge swims in Loch Insh after using an axe and a sledgehammer to create a channel through the ice
before jumping in … (Jane Barlow/PA)
Alice Goodridge plunges through a hole in the ice in Loch Insh
… then taking a rest (Jane Barlow/PA)
Alice Goodridge after her swim in the frozen waters of the River Calder in Glen Banchor in the Cairngorms
Ms Goodridge also took the plunge in the frozen waters of the River Calder in Glen Banchor in the Cairngorms (Jane Barlow/PA)
Alice Goodridge swims the frozen waters of the River Calder in Glen Banchor in the Cairngorms National Park
Ms Goodridge swimming in the freezing waters (Jane Barlow/PA)
A flooded cricket pitch in Wraysbury, Berkshire
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)
Flooding closes the road past Cookham Moor after the Thames burst its banks near the Berkshire village
And this road, past Cookham Moor, was closed after the Thames burst its banks near the Berkshire village (Pete Clifton/PA)
People walk passed a Vaccination Centre sign at the Royal Highland Show ground in Edinburgh
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 clears a path around the first snowdrops of the season at English Heritage’s Audley End House and Gardens in Saffron Walden
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)
Gardeners tend to the first snowdrops of the season at Audley End House and Gardens
The first snowdrops at the heritage site (Joe Giddens/PA)
Sunrise over West Park, Long Eaton
The day got off to a beautiful start, with this sunrise over West Park, Long Eaton, in Derbyshire (Scott Wilson/PA)

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