THERE wasn’t much of the white stuff, but youngsters and the young at heart made the most of what there was.

Snow flurries swept across Essex on Thursday night and Friday morning with some snow settling on Hilly Fields in Colchester.

But feared disruption was avoided with no major accidents being reported on the A12, A120 or the A133.

Businesses and schools also carried on as usual.

Essex County Council’s gritting teams worked throughout Thursday afternoon and into the night to ensure the major roads were kept open as temperatures plummeted during the early hours of Friday morning.

Temperatures fell to below freezing at times, but not long enough to allow snow to settle for long.

More sunny spells are expected to start this week off with no forecasts of snow in the immediate future.

More pictures here: GALLERY: It's snowing! Your pictures and tweets of the first flurries across Essex