A large part of the River Thames in Richmond borough froze over in what locals said is the first time in more than a decade as a sub-zero cold snap continues.

Overnight temperatures in London dropped to -9C 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 was frozen over at Teddington on Thursday morning.

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.

Yesterday, the rare sight of a frozen Thames was captured by our sister site Teddington Nub News as well as member of the Teddington 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 quite spectacular. I've lived here for 13 years and I've not seen this part of the river freeze like this."

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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.

When the Thames last froze

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.

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.

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.

Forecast

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.

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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.