IF you were dreaming of a white Christmas then you almost got your wish granted -- just a few days too late!

December 28 saw the Fylde wake to a white blanket of snow covering everything -- the first time there has been such a scene for more than five years.

The last time such widespread snow struck the whole country was in February of 1994.

Traffic throughout the Fylde was thrown in to chaos as the ice-rink conditions meant drivers had to crawl along roads which would normally flow freely.

Trains were cancelled, stranding many commuters already fed-up with delays due to track repairs, who gave up and turned back home.

And Stanley Park golf course served an entirely different purpose as children flocked with sledges for fun in the snow in scenes like the one pictured here.

Snow is particularly rare near the coast as the high salt content of the air blowing in off the sea means snow rarely sticks and builds up.

Temperatures were so low that even part of Stanley Park's lake froze over.

But perhaps the oddest thing about the snowfall was that as quickly as it had appeared, it disappeared.

For many revellers the site of lush green grass which greeted them as they threw open the curtains on a new year came as a surprise -- when they went to bed it was white as a sheet outside.

A change in wind direction brought warm air up from the south, melting the remaining snow in just a few hours.

As for the weather this weekend, the Met Office is warning that there may be snow again on higher ground and that temperatures are set to drop, possibly leading to widespread frost across the country leading to more treacherous driving conditions.