Motorists who left their frozen cars unlocked with the engines running on their driveways in Essex this morning faced a particularly bleak journey to work: when they returned to their vehicles, they found more than just the ice had disappeared.

Essex police said three cars were stolen from their owners' doorsteps within half an hour from 7.20am in the Chelmsford area: a blue Ford Galaxy, a Peugeot 407 and a Toyota Aventis. "It is clear that thieves were targeting the area, knowing that drivers would be doing this," a spokesman said.

The first new steam train built in Britain for over half a century, the Tornado, rescued over 100 passengers left stranded in Kent by more modern technology. As many icy roads in the county were gridlocked on Monday, and many intercity and commuter trains ground to a standstill, the Tornado, constructed from the original A1 Peppercorn Class blueprints and paid for almost entirely by voluntary effort, chuffed magnificently from London to Canterbury hauling a Steam Dreams excursion train. On the way back, it collected stranded passengers and dropped them off at stations along the route.