CHIPPENHAM NEWS: THE National Trust village of Lacock became a winter wonderland on Friday after snow swept across north Wiltshire.

All the village's best-known sites, including Lacock Abbey, were covered in a thick carpet of the white stuff, creating an ideal scene for opportunist photographers. Although the snow did not last into the weekend, residents and traders made the most of the picture postcard scene.

Sue West, who works at Lacock Post Office, said:

"I suppose we had at least a couple of inches of snow. All the trees were covered and the village looked lovely."

But while the Siberian tigers at Longleat Safari Park had extra snowmen to play with on Friday, it was business as usual for the animals at Lackham College's farm.

Despite last week's freeze, February began with the mildest weather since records began 50 years ago. Between February 2 and 4 night-time temperatures reached a balmy high of 11.8C, making it the hottest February since 1954.

Weather expert Geoff Witts said: "It has been a very strange month, people may forget that the first week in February was one of the warmest we have seen in the area.

"Even though we had the freezing cold front last week temperatures are still above average for the whole month."

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