The brent geese which arrive in England each year, to get away from the frozen tundra which even their beaks cannot penetrate, were thrown by Siberian conditions in the Thames Estuary.

But although their feeding ground was covered by snow it did not last long: the incoming tide soon lifted the frozen crust and once more they were filling their bellies.

The tides were poor however, and the creeks filled even more slowly than usual as the flood was burdened with ice-floes lifted from the mudflats.