AN ice cathedral formed from 10ft icicles is being hit by the big thaw.

The ice formation, at a former quarry near Middletonin- Teesdale, County Durham, formed before Christmas, but is now rapidly melting. A frozen waterfall at Gibson’s Cave nearby is also beginning to thaw.

However, long stretches of the Tees remain iced over and were covered in fresh snowfall yesterday.

Rangers at the Moor House Upper Teesdale National Nature Reserve, in the North Pennines, are monitoring a family of otters whose footprints have dotted the snow across the river surface.