[starttext]
By RICHARD HARTLEY-PARKINSON
A snow covered Buckingham Palace continued to attract the crowds despite the coldThese are some of the wintry scenes taken from a helicopter that reveals the contrasting majestic beauty and travel chaos that the snow has landed on us.
From jam-packed motorways to people enjoying themselves tobogganing and skating, photographer Andy Hooper captures various scenes from in and around London.
In the quadrant of Somerset House the magic for couples and friends ice skating was given that extra sparkle after the snow stopped falling and the temperatures plummeted.
Dickensian: St Paul's Cathedral has seen many snow falls over the years
Olympic site: Hopefully the weather will warm up a bit by the 2012 Games
Somerset House, London: Crowds enjoy the ice-skating rink with extra snow
An overturned lorry caused holiday hell on the M25 between junctions 5 and 4
A rescue truck helps to remove the petrol tanker that caused severe delays when it tipped overIn contrast to the scenes of joy and happiness a lorry carrying Liquid Petroleum Gases slipped and toppled over on the M25 motorway.
The collision caused long tailbacks on the M25 and M26, adding to the misery of those trying to get to airports that were closed or suffering delays.
The road had to be closed for several hours so that emergency crews could clear up the petrol and remove the tanker without it exploding.
Deserted: With some roads clogged for miles other parts of the motorway network looked like the apocalypse had arrived
Greenwich Park's hills became popular tobogganing runs with Londoners 
...and still in Greenwich Park, people weren't looking up at the skies around the observatory for once
An island of green: Chelsea's Stamford Bridge pitch offers the only visible grass for miles
Colourless landscape: South London looks bleak from the air with very little colour visiblelondon..snow..18..december
source: dailymail
[endtext]