THE Essex Weather Centre has explained why some of Essex again missed the snow over the weekend - the second time in recent weeks. 

Both the BBC and the Met Office had issued a weather warning for south Essex, in common with the rest of South East England. 

But while half the country was blanketed in snow today, most of Essex just had some drizzle, leaving thousands of families disappointed. 

Now experts at the Essex Weather Centre have explained why we again missed the snow. 

It was because an onshore wind brought milder temperatures, which meant no snow. 

In a Tweet tonight, forecasters said: "Another frustrating day for those expecting snow especially in south/east Essex with an onshore wind bringing in milder air - third time in a row for many. Further west, a fair amount of snow again and thank you for the photos. Will share some of these shortly."

This morning, swathes of the UK woke up to snow and ice on Sunday morning, with even London getting a dusting of white.

By mid-morning on Sunday, the flakes were falling thick and fast in the capital and elsewhere, with meteorologists warning drivers to take care on icy roads.

The hashtag “Narnia” was trending on social media as people shared images of their snowy neighbourhoods.

Mayor of London Sadiq Khan was also out enjoying the weather.

He posted a video of his family’s golden retriever Luna spinning around the garden as the snow fell.

“Luna is loving the snow and hoping it settles,” he said.

The Met Office put a yellow weather warning in place stretching from coast to coast in southern England and ending just below Manchester.

The public were warned to expect some icy patches on untreated roads and pavements, with journeys by road and rail likely to be affected.

Highways England warned that the snow had caused collisions on the M3, M27 and M25.

The agency urged drivers to only travel if absolutely necessary.

A yellow warning is also in place down the east coast of Scotland and covering most of the island of Ireland.

Some parts of England could see 15cm (6in) of snow by the end of the day, the Met Office said, with Coleshill in the Midlands already recording 9cm (3.5in).

Meteorologist Simon Partridge said:“(The Midlands) is where we are going to see the snow lasting the longest.

“The band of snow that came through overnight stalled over the Midlands and will then track its way back over south-east England.”

He added that more snow was expected across the southern half of the UK in the next few hours, with sleet and snow showers also forecast across northern Scotland.

Some parts of Northern Ireland have seen 7cm (2.8in) but no more is likely to fall.

Mr Partridge said: “Our main focus is that it is going to be a really cold night, particularly across central and southern parts of the UK – so the whole of Northern Ireland, all of Wales, most of the southern half of England from the Midlands and southwards.”

He added: “Temperatures are expected to dip to between minus 4C (24.8F) and minus 6C (21.2F) quite widely tonight and where we get that snow lying in parts of the Midlands we could see one or two places where temperatures are as low as minus 10C (14F).”

A widespread frost is expected, and conditions are expected to be hazardous including spots of ice on the roads.

But Mr Partridge said that by Wednesday, temperatures in the the south of England might have jumped right back up to between 10C (50F) and 12C (53.6F).

“It’s a bit of a rollercoaster from cold and wintry conditions to wet and windy ones,” Mr Partridge said.

“We are keeping an eye on rainfall totals because there are some areas that are very sensitive to rainfall and there is further possible flooding as we go through the second half of the week.”