London weather: Temperatures plummet in the south-east... and it's set to get even colder

Londoners woke up to a frosty start to their Friday after overnight temperatures plummeted below freezing across the south-east – with lows of -6C in Essex.

And it is set to get even fresher this weekend as the cold snap continues.

A Met Office forecaster told the Standard: “Central London was -2C on Thursday night – particularly cold for the city – and most of London stayed between -2C and -2.5C.

“Grays End in Essex dropped as low as -6C.”

She added that on Friday, the capital would enjoy “glorious crisp winter sunshine” with temperatures climbing to 6C.

But it is set to feel colder over the weekend as the sun retreats behind clouds.

“Overnight temperatures will drop again and we are looking at about -2C, maybe -3C,” she said.

“For Saturday and Sunday it will be feeling noticeably colder because there won’t be as much sunshine and it will be cloudier.

“It will be 5C to 6C in the day and going down to -2C at night – even in the city – and really feeling very cold.”

Londoners shared stunning pictures of clear skies and a crisp frost on Friday morning.

One image appeared to show parts of the Thames frozen over following the cold snap overnight.