LITTLE Gracie May Wheeler was 'chillin' with the rest of us yesterday as Oxfordshire had its first proper snow falls of the year - in April.

Just a week after relatively balmy temperatures for the start of spring, winter returned with a vengeance as people woke to find their gardens, cars and the county's roads covered in several inches of snow.

The Met Office said the county had last experienced April snow like this 19 years ago.

Heavy snow blanketed the county with about two to three inches of snow falling in areas including Oxford, Faringdon, Bicester and Wantage. More fell in higher areas.

Met Office spokesman John Hammond said: "Flakes of snow started to fall in north Oxfordshire between 2am and 3am and then headed towards the city."

Driving conditions caused problems for motorists with at least four crashes attributed to the weather.

There were two collisions on the M40. The first involved a Vauxhall Vectra and a Vauxhall Corsa, northbound between junctions 9 and 11, at 5.30am. A woman suffered head injuries and was taken to hospital.

A six-vehicle collision happened northbound between junctions 5 and 6 at 6.38am.

Two cars collided and left the A361 at Swerford, just outside the Mason's Arms pub on the Chipping Norton to Banbury Road, at 7.19am.

A 30-year-old woman suffered head injuries when her car left the road in Akeman Street, between Chesterton and Kidlington, at 8.23am. She was taken to the Horton Hospital, in Banbury.

Gary Jones, of Coriander Way, Blackbird Leys, said his 15-minute trip to work at 5.15am ended up taking three times as long.

The 43-year-old added: "It was like driving into hyperspace. The snow just kept coming towards me."

Children, parents and others across the county took full advantage of the unseasonal snowfall.

It was the first time 15-month-old Gracie Mae Wheeler, of Shakespeare Road, Eynsham, had seen snow and her dad Dan, 23, said: "She loved it."

Joanne Way and her children Linden, five, Elliss, nine, and Torrin, seven, built a snowman near to their house in Osney Court, off Botley Road, Oxford.

Elliss said: "It's been fun building the snowmen. Normally on a Sunday morning, I would be watching the television."

Six-year-old Kai Obhiozele, of Oxford, had been making snowmen with his friends.

He said: "It was hard work making a snowman - even harder than making a cake."

The snow caused chaos around the country with 62 flights cancelled at Heathrow Airport's troubled Terminal 5. There is the risk of further snow today.