SCHOOL closures, commuters left stranded and shoppers panic-buying summed up a week of snow that paralysed the district.
But while the wintry weather has been a torment for many, others have found it a treat.
Children and those just young-at-heart made the most of the white stuff, flocking to parks for snowboarding, sledding and snowman building.
The youngsters had plenty of free time after 120 schools shut across Surrey on Friday and Monday, with most blaming treacherous paths and car parks.
Oliver Cole, the father of a pupil at Godstone Village School, said: "I always love the snow, but it can be such a pain if you work and your children can't go to school.
"It is a good excuse to have a snowball fight and make snowmen, though."
Surrey County Council's fleet of 39 gritters went into action salting roads, supported by a quad bike, an all-terrain vehicle and an army of 51 farmers equipped with spreaders and ploughs.
The council had stockpiled 16,000 tons of salt – double the amount needed in an average Surrey winter.
At the start of winter, the county council's 1,741 grit bins were filled to help people treat roads and pavements in their communities.
Sally Marks, county councillor for Whyteleafe, said that she had received e-mails from residents praising the county council for their gritting. "I think they have greatly improved since the last time we had snow," she said.
"And roads around here are, for the most part, OK. But if I could wave a magic wand and have a bottomless purse then I would like to refill all the grit bins, but there are hundreds and one lorry-full of grit can only refill three bins at a time."
Transport across the county was affected by the icy weather.
Southern Rail and South West Trains both ran reduced service timetables, to the annoyance of commuters.
Gatwick Airport said its £8 million investment in snow-clearing equipment since 2010 had paid off. The runway remained open. Hundreds of flights were cancelled at Heathrow, but only 90 were cut from Gatwick's schedule between Friday and Monday, which were blamed on problems at other UK and European hubs.
