More than 1,000 people were forced to sleep overnight at Heathrow airport last night as thick fog grounded hundreds of flights.
Christmas travel plans were thrown into chaos for thousands of families, leaving airport staff to hand out blankets and water as travellers tried to bed down in the terminals.
The Met Office issued severe weather warnings as thick fog descended across the South, cutting visibility to less than 50 yards in some areas. The blanket of fog was so thick in London that Canary Wharf was almost completely enveloped with only the tip of the 771ft skyscraper visible.
So that's where Santa lives - beneath the very pillar box where excited children post their letters to him.
As this amazing glimpse into his grotto shows, the letters drop straight down into his candle-lit den - where piles of presents wait to be delivered. At least that is the magical scene that greets passers-by in this street in Dover.
Viewed at the correct angle, an ingenious combination of reality and art makes this pavement painting appear 3D.
Hundreds of thousands of families face bitter disappointment tomorrow because presents bought online have not been delivered.
Failures by internet firms, Royal Mail and private delivery companies have affected a huge range of Christmas gifts including computer consoles, designer goods and children's toys.
Hundreds of refugees queued for more than an hour yesterday to get a free Christmas lunch in Calais.
There were figs, dates, candles and cards - and Father Christmas even turned up to hand out presents.
But behind the festive facade, the party was at the centre of a bitter dispute between officials in Calais and the French government. The event was held at the Minck civic hall, just yards from the town's ferry port. Along with a newly-opened "welcome centre" in the former dockers' headquarters nearby, it has been providing services for hundreds of migrants trying to get into Britain.
Every Christmas Day at 3pm she is the queen of the airwaves. But this year, Elizabeth II will reign over the Internet as well.
At the same time as her Christmas message is broadcast on television and radio, it will be posted on the videosharing website YouTube.
When Sarah and Ben Goddard's mail delivery dried up to a trickle, the couple smelt a rat.
But Goddards would have been better pointing the finger of suspicion at their pet cat Georgi, after it emerged a succession of attacks by the vicious moggy left the postman too scared to deliver the mail.
For all those pressed reluctantly into spud-peeling duty tomorrow morning, console yourself with this thought.
At least you don't have to feed the Watson family.
Their Christmas meal will include 34lb of potatoes, 9lb of carrots and 6lb of sprouts to go with their two extra-large turkeys.
For dessert, there are two large Christmas puddings, two cakes, 36 mince pies and a gallon of custard. And they are not even expecting guests. John Watson, 42, and his 36-year-old wife Jo have nine daughters and three sons aged between one and 18, plus another one on the way.
Muslim plans to broadcast a loudspeaker call to prayer from a city centre mosque have been attacked by local residents who say it would turn the area into a "Muslim ghetto".
Dozens of people packed out a council meeting to express their concerns over the plans for a two-minute long call to prayer to be issued three times a day, saying that it could drown out the traditional sound of church bells.
But a spokesman for the Central Mosque said that Muslim's also have the right to summon worshippers.
Father Christmas gets all the publicity but it's mothers who really keep the season together, a survey has revealed.
The maternal side of any family apparently makes twice as much effort to keep in touch as the male line. Which is why there will be more of mother's family - her parents and grandparents - round the table tomorrow lunchtime than father's.
Have a good Christmas everyone!