Locals said they had never seen the river freeze like this before (Picture: SWNS)
A large part of the River Thames has frozen over in what locals say is the first time in more than a decade as a sub-zero cold snap continues.
Temperatures in London dropped to -2C as Storm Darcy – dubbed ‘The Beast of the East 2’ swept through the country.
As a result of the bitter chill from the Baltic, a section of the Thames has frozen over at Teddington, south west London.
The extreme freeze meant the UK experienced the coldest February night for 25 years – with temperatures plummeting to below -20C in some parts of the country.
In the capital and the South East, train services have been cancelled and roads left in treacherous conditions.
Yesterday, the rare sight of a frozen Thames was captured by a member of the local RNLI crew at around 10am.
A spokeswoman for the RNLI joked they might have to use a smaller boat to break the ice before rescue crews could take to the water.
She said: ‘It’s not often the Thames freezes over in Teddington. We might have to use the D class [inflatable] lifeboat as an icebreaker.
It’s very rare for parts of the Thames to freeze over (Picture: SWNS)
A RNLI volunteer said they had not seen the river freeze like this for more than a decade (Credits: SWNS)
The UK experienced its coldest night in 25 years on Wednesday (Picture: SWNS)
‘It’s quite spectacular. I’ve lived here for 13 years and I’ve not seen this part of the river freeze like this.’
The large section of frozen river is in the mouth of Teddington Lock on the non-tidal side, where the water flows slower than the rest of the adjoining Thames.
By Friday morning, the ice had thawed slightly and was much thinner than yesterday.
The Thames has completely frozen over in the past, the last time being in January 1963 – the coldest winter for more than 200 years that brought blizzards, snow drifts and temperatures of -20C.
The river was able to freeze because it flows slower at the lock (Picture: SWNS)
The sight of the Thames freezing used to be a lot more common (Picture: SWNS)
Even some parts of the sea froze over in what is believed to be the coldest winter since 1740.
Prior to this, the sight of the Thames freezing was a much more regular occurrence as Britain experienced a ‘little ice age.’
The ice covering the river was so thick it could support shops, pubs, fairground rides, blazing fires as well as tens of thousands of revellers.
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The first ‘frost fair’ as they were known was recorded in 1608 when the river iced up for six weeks. The last fair took place over 200 years later in 1814.
This week temperatures in the capital are expected to stay around 0C and -1C but could feel as low as -5C due to the wind chill.
The mercury plunged to -23C on Wednesday night in the village of Braemar, Aberdeenshire, making it the coldest temperature recorded in the UK since 1995.
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