"The snow and frozen ground means we've just not been able to do the planting we normally can, " he said.

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Carrying flags and posters of the three dead women, they followed the coffins across frozen ground to a community centre where they were put on display.

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Sarah Pettitt, chairman of the Horticulture and Potato Board of the National Farmers' Union, said farmers were having to use "innovative and desperate measures" to harvest crops in frozen ground.

BBC: How are farmers coping with the snow?

They even exhumed the bodies of flu victims buried in the permanently frozen ground of the Norwegian island of Spitzbergen, in the hope that traces of virus genetic material might have been preserved.

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During hundreds of camping trips and meetings and service projects and weird and wonderful events such as the Klondike Derby (a cold-weather competition in which scouts drag makeshift sleds over frozen ground for hours), I learned how to adapt to changing circumstances on the fly while keeping the main goals in sight.

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The thaw could also threaten oil production, which relies on hard-frozen winter ground to move heavy machinery.

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With melting snow and ground still frozen in places there was a risk of localised flooding, it added.

BBC: Flood warning as snow thaws over weekend

In a number of areas the ground remains frozen beneath the surface, which means excess water will run into rivers instead of being absorbed by the soil.

BBC: Flood warnings issued after heavy rain and snow thaws

To keep things safely frozen, cooling systems have been installed in the ground.

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At Tannadice, a frozen area of the pitch in front of the Shed end was concerning ground staff and officials and after a third inspection their game against the Accies was called off.

BBC: Football in snow