About 15cm of snow was predicted to fall in just three hours in Greater London, north Kent, the Thames estuary, Essex, Southend-on- Sea, Medway and Thurrock.
A forecaster for MeteoGroup said there could be a white Christmas. "The chances of falling snow on the big day do appear to be greater than in recent years," said Brendan Jones. "There is the potential for milder air attempting to move northwards by midweek, but this in itself could bring further periods of snow. This battleground between the very cold conditions and milder air heading in from the south-west could still be in place by Christmas Day. The prospect of a white Christmas therefore hangs in the balance."
Overnight temperatures fell below freezing across much of the UK as the Met Office warned there could be further snow across the east of England today.
