NOT all residents of York and North Yorkshire are unhappy that the big freeze continued today, as these five parading penguins show.

The five, residents of Flamingo Land Zoo, at Kirby Misperton, near Malton, are said to have been splashing about happily in their pool despite the sub-zero temperatures.

Meanwhile, the rest of the region was still shivering as temperatures plummeted to minus 9C (16F) overnight.

By dawn today, the thermometer had risen to freezing point, with forecasters predicting little improvement throughout the day.

"It is going to be one of those days when it struggles to get above freezing," said a PA weather spokesman. In Seamer, near Scarborough, 1,400 residents endured their second night without gas.

Five hundred of an initial 1,900 customers affected were reconnected from an alternative supply last night.

A Transco spokesman said: "The source of the problem, debris in a gas main, was traced at 11.15pm yesterday.

"The blockage is now clear and we can start reconnecting people today after a full safety testing programme is complete."

Burst water pipes continued to cause a problem, with North Yorkshire Fire and Rescue Service already reporting their "busiest New Year of recent times."

Updated: 10:41 Friday, January 04, 2002