Man in 20s dies after entering River Thames during -3C freeze

Body of man in 20s pulled from river near London Bridge

A man has died after entering the River Thames in London during freezing temperatures of -3C as a cold snap continues to grip the UK.

The man’s body was recovered near London Bridge at 9.25pm on Tuesday, four hours after passersby raised the alarm when they saw him entering the water.

After being called at around 5.30pm, officers from the Metropolitan Police and the RNLI carried out a search, but the man could not be found.

A Met Police spokesperson said: “At 9.25pm the body of a man, aged in his 20s, was recovered from the water near to London Bridge.

“He is believed to be the man seen entering the water earlier. The circumstances of the death are not being treated as suspicious.”

The force said his next of kin have been informed, although a formal identification is yet to take place.

It comes after three young boys died after falling through ice on a lake in Solihull, with a six-year-old boy still fighting for life in hospital.

All four were taken to hospital in cardiac arrest after being rescued on Sunday afternoon, but three of the boys - aged eight, 10 and 11 - “could not be revived”.

Police break the ice on the lake at Babbs Mill Park in Kingshurst, after the deaths of three boys aged eight, 10 and 11 (PA)

Temperatures dipped below 0C in vast swathes of the UK again last night as the cold snap continues, with several regions blanketed with a layer of snow earlier in the week.

Thousands of people spent a second night without power during freezing conditions in Shetland, where a major incident was declared.

Scottish and Southern Electricity Networks (SSEN) Distribution is working to restore supplies to about 2,800 homes, but warned that full restoration is only likely by the end of the week.

The Met Office has extended a yellow warning for snow and ice covering northern Scotland and North East England until noon on Friday.

Temperartures of -17.3C were recorded at Braemar in Aberdeenshire on Monday into Tuesday, making it the coldest place in the UK for the second night in a row.

Heavy snow showers have been reported in Aberdeen and Aberdeenshire on Wednesday, where motorists have been warned to drive with care.

Met Office spokeswoman Becky White said areas covered by the latest weather warnings could see up to 10cm of fresh snow on higher ground.

Blackheath Common in Greenwich, London, covered in snow (PA)

"We could see a good few new centimetres of snow accumulation," she said. “We could see around 1-4cm at lower levels and 5-10cm on higher ground across the Highlands."

Snow and ice warnings are also in place in the southwest until 10am on Wednesday.

"There will be a risk of ice across the country over the next few days, but particularly tonight," Ms White said. "There is a band of rain moving in from the southwest, but it may turn into snow as it reaches land."

Ms White added that the southwest could see 1-2cm of snow at lower levels, and 1-10cm of snow on higher ground such as Dartmoor and Exmoor.

Snow has fallen in many areas (Danny Lawson/PA) (PA Archive)

An ice warning is in place in Eastern England until noon on Wednesday.

The national forecaster has also added a yellow ice warning in northern parts of Northern Ireland, including Belfast, from noon on Tuesday until noon on Wednesday.

Scores of schools across the UK were forced to close for a second day on Tuesday due to the cold weather.

Councils from Aberdeenshire to Cambridgeshire reported school closures, for reasons including heating failure, burst pipes and snow and ice, while all schools in Shetland were shut on Tuesday due to the weather conditions.

In Sheffield, engineers said they had just over 100 households left to reconnect to gas as of Tuesday evening after nearly 2,000 homes in the city lost supplies 11 days earlier when a burst water main filled the local gas network with more than a million litres of water.