It’s odds on for a white Easter - and a frozen boat race

The Met Office today extended its level 3 cold weather alert until Friday as hundreds of homes remained without power, many high-level transport routes stayed impassible and farmers battled with deep snow to keep livestock alive.

The Met Office warning said: “Bitterly cold easterly winds will persist this week, bringing snow showers to north-east England and light snow flurries across other areas of England.

“With lying snow and partial snow melt during the daytimes, icy conditions are likely during the nights.”

The Met Office also issued fresh yellow warnings of snow and ice, advising drivers to take particular care.

The continuing Arctic conditions are in stark contrast to this week last year when headlines were proclaiming Britain was hotter than Madrid or California, and sun-seekers headed to the beach to enjoy an early spring heatwave.

On March 24 last year, Porthmadog in North Wales saw the warmest temperature, reaching 21.7C (71F) - making it hotter than Madrid, Rome, Athens, Barcelona and Monte Real in Portugal.

Now, the odds are shortening on the first white Easter in five years, just as the clocks are due to go forward for British Summertime.

Today, engineers were continuing their battle to restore power to hundreds of homes across parts of Northern Ireland, Cumbria and Scotland.

Helicopters were helping in the operation in Northern Ireland, where snow drifts and abandoned vehicles hampered efforts to restore power to 800 homes and businesses.

More than 140,000 customers who lost power when the wintry blast struck the eastern counties of the region last Thursday and Friday have since had supply restored.

On Arran, residents have spoken of some of the worst conditions they have ever seen as hundreds of homes remained without power in south-west Scotland.

The area was hit badly by damaged power lines four days ago when 18,000 homes and businesses were affected.

In northern England, many cross-Pennine routes remained blocked by drifting snow, including the Snake Pass and Woodhead Pass, between Manchester and South Yorkshire.

One motorist returning to his buried car today near Denholme, West Yorkshire, said it was the worst he had seen for more than 30 years.

John Davis said he had left his Seat on Friday on his way home from work and had decided to try and dig it out today.

“I’m taking a day off to try and rescue myself,” Mr Davis said. “It’s crazy. I’ve not seen anything like this since 1977, when I was a kid.

“The scale of it has been phenomenal but the wind, I think, has been the main cause of it. Where you’ve got a gap, the wind has just taken out the road.”

Mr Davis joked: “We’ll probably still see snow in Queensbury and Denholme in June.”

Drivers in Cumbria who were forced to abandon their cars over the weekend have been urged not to go back for them, but to contact police to arrange for their vehicles to be recovered.

Last night a Cumbria Police spokesman advised motorists that the A595 was still closed and weather conditions are still challenging in the area.

Laura Caldwell, a forecaster for MeteoGroup, the weather division for the Press Association, said there was no end in sight for the cold weather, although there will be a respite from the heavy snowfalls.

She said: “There have been a few snowfalls in the north-east of England but it’s pretty much dry across the UK at the moment. But it’s cold.”

A man found dead in deep snow after he started walking home in severe weather was named by police.

The body of Gary Windle, 25, was found by a farmer in Brierfield, near Burnley, Lancashire, at about 1.30pm on Saturday.

Lancashire Police said his death was not being treated as suspicious and there were indications it was a “very tragic incident” after he started walking home from a night-out with friends on Friday.

Severe weather is also thought to have led to the death of a woman in Cornwall on Friday.

The woman, named locally as Susan Norman, died when her house in Looe, Cornwall, collapsed during a landslip following torrential rain.

Bookies Ladbrokes now has a white Easter as odds-on and is also offering 5/1 that next weekend will be the coldest Easter weekend ever.

The firm is also offered on odds on ice on the Thames disrupting this weekend’s University Boat Race.