About 20 per cent of the country’s workforce is believed to have taken a “snow day” on Monday, business groups said, costing the country an estimated £1bn in lost productivity.

With London and the south-east hit by the heaviest snow falls for 18 years, many businesses were forced to operate on a limited basis with transport services in chaos after up to eight inches of snow. Almost half of business in London were operating at only 50 per cent capacity, according to a survey by the London Chamber of Commerce and Industry.