Cars in snowy conditions on the A192 road near Blyth, north east England yesterday. Persistent snow and freezing conditions are causing travel delays in many parts of Britain. Photo / AP
A 7-year-old girl was among three people who died yesterday in the UK as the treacherous Storm Emma left a trail of destruction in its path.
The child was killed as she played in the snow when a car collided with a house in Looe, Cornwall, taking the bitter Arctic blast's death toll to 10.
She is understood to have been playing in the snow when a car skidded and careered into the property at around 2.30pm. Devon and Cornwall Police said an investigation was underway.
Earlier, a 75-year-old woman was found dead in a snow-covered street in Leeds and a 46-year-old man from Southampton died in a collision involving a lorry and a van on the A34.
A man in Welling, south-east London, who died after falling into a frozen lake trying to save his stranded dog was named as Stephen Cavanagh, 60, a "doting" grandfather who slipped and banged his head on the ice before falling into the freezing water.
The body of a Glasgow care worker, Elaine McNeil, was found on Wednesday having been traced by her mobile phone when she failed to turn up for work.
And on Tuesday, four people died in two separate road accidents in Lincolnshire and Cambridgeshire while a 52-year-old homeless man was found dead inside his freezing tent.
But as is so often the case, the horrendous conditions also prompted tales of heroism and showcased the best of the human spirit.
A woman forced to give birth on the storm-battered A66 near Darlington safely delivered a little girl.
Sienna Waring was delivered by her father Andrew as he tried to get her mother Daniella to hospital in terrible driving conditions. She was born near Stockton-on-Tees moments before paramedics arrived at the scene.
Waring, from Catterick, North Yorkshire, said: "Having been present at the birth of our two other children, I just copied what I had seen then.
"I opened the passenger door and knelt in the snow to deliver the baby."
Three men who came to the aid of motorists in up to 1000 vehicles stranded overnight in the snow on the M80 in Scotland delivered pizzas, homemade lentil soup and Irn Bru to their cars.
A delivery driver was also praised for handing out cakes, pasties and doughnuts to stranded drivers on the A1 near Lindisfarne, Northumberland.
In South Yorkshire, volunteer mountain rescuers got a baby to hospital in a Land Rover after a couple's car got stuck in the snow high above Penistone.
Selfless NHS staff were hailed for their "amazing" efforts to get to work, many trudging for hours through the snow while others slept in hospitals overnight to ensure they were there for their next shift.
Andy Renwick, a Glasgow surgeon, revealed that an unnamed female colleague walked 12km in snow goggles with snow shoes and walking poles so she could operate on a cancer patient.
Members of the public stopped in 4x4s to offer staff lifts into hospitals, while some companies offered the use of their 4x4 vehicles and drivers.
Meanwhile, hardy St David's Day revellers braved the snow in Wales to take part in their annual parade - despite the event being called off by organisers.