SLIDESHOW: No fun like snow fun!

The snowfall saw families takes to the hills for sledging expeditions and craft a host of interesting characters in their gardens.

South Bedfordshire saw five inches of snow, which BBC weatherman Philip Eden said was the heaviest since December 18, 2010.

The snow and ice caused a number of prangs on roads across the area, with motorists forced to abandon cars on steep hills including Stockingstone Road and Crawley Green Road.

The ambulance service said its call-outs to road collisions in Bedfordshire doubled over the weekend, but that the number of people injured was low.

Luton Borough Council started gritting ‘strategic routes’ on Friday night, and gritted and ploughed these roads at least three times over the weekend, with a dedicated gritting vehicle deployed to keep the route to the airport clear.

Pavements in shopping areas, outside schools, the L&D and on hills have been cleared, and the majority of bin collections went ahead as planned on Monday, a council spokesman said.

Dallow Primary School and Ferrars Infant school were forced to close for the day on Monday, with Ashcroft High School closed until 10.40am.

The cold snap is likely to continue for the rest of the week, according to Mr Eden.

He said: “It’s going to stay very cold and frosty all this week up to Saturday or Sunday, but some days will be quite sunny and there will be no significant additional snow (beyond the odd light flurry).

“Night-time temperatures could be as low as minus 10°C and afternoon highs no better than zero, so the snow and ice still on the ground won’t go yet.

“There are signs of a rise in temperature, though, on Sunday or Monday.”

Many thanks to everyone who sent in their snaps!