Lennoxtown lies 12 miles north-east of Glasgow but for much of last week it might well have been on a different planet. Blizzards enveloped the little settlement and brought it to a freezing standstill. The shelves of the Co-op rapidly emptied as deliveries dried up because roads surrounding the village and others in the Campsie Glen had become impassable in snow drifts more than two metres deep. The local bus operator cancelled services linking the villages to major roads.

The people of Lennoxtown suddenly found themselves isolated and dependent on each other as the “beast from the east” blasted Britain with Arctic ferocity and triggered some of the grimmest winter conditions of recent years. And this chilling tale was repeated across the country, from the Cotswolds to Coventry and from Cornwall to Cardiff.

Community volunteers in Larbert, Scotland, clear snow from a primary school. Photograph: Andrew Milligan/PA

Hillary Ogden, who farms 60 sheep near Stroud in the Cotswolds with her husband Trevor, said the conditions were the worst to affect the area for 20 to 30 years. “I could have sat down and cried sometimes but you can’t do that. Some of the sheep are near to lambing so it’s imperative that we get to them. We’ve had a couple who have lambed already and we’ve got them in some dog kennels here. We’ve got one in the house. We’re having to unfreeze all the pipes in the barn. There’s also a shortage of straw this year, so it’s more expensive – that has been a problem. All the water troughs are freezing over so we’re having to look after that as well.”

Debbie Reed, who runs the Old Mill House B&B near Padstow, Cornwall, with her husband Ashley, said five of their seven bookings this weekend had been cancelled and that the adjoining Old Mill Bistro, run by her son Adam, was also heavily affected. “This evening everybody has cancelled their tables,” she said. “There are just no cars on the road.”

She said the weather would have a huge financial impact for them. “Had the people not cancelled we’d probably just about break even. I used to be a teacher before. Ashley was a builder and Adam was a policeman. You just don’t realise the financial impact the weather has on businesses.”

In FarGo Village, a repurposed industrial space in Coventry, Michael McEntee, owner of the Big Comfy Bookshop, said his store had been closed since Thursday. “We cancelled our poetry night on Thursday – which is a huge outlet for Coventry people – a gig on Friday and we’ve had to cancel a local book launch yesterday, too, which is a great shame.”

McEntee said the start of the year usually proved to be a tough time: “This week’s closures won’t help.” He added that he would be active on the shop’s social media sites “to show that it’s not the end of the world. Also I’ve had two days with my kids to make snowmen.”

Sledging at the Angel of the North. Photograph: Chris Lishman/REX/Shutterstock

Matt Barraclough, who runs the Calls Sandwich Bar in Leeds with his partner Chris Watson, said the past few days had been really challenging. “On Thursday we got in and opened up but our deliveries couldn’t make it so we were short on stock. That turned out to not be a problem as over 90% of our regular customer base didn’t make it in. On Friday we didn’t make it in at all.”

Barraclough added that over the past three days the cafe’s takings were down by 80%. “That’s a huge chunk of money for a small business and will cause problems to our cash flow. What it means is that when it comes to paying our bills at the end of March, it’s going to be really tight.”

James Rix, owner and head chef at the Fox and Hounds pub in Hunsdon in Hertfordshire, said he estimated to have lost close to £9,000 in takings over the week as a result of the weather. The pub, well-known for its food, is in a village several miles from a main road and diners were put off by the possibility of getting stuck.

“We had 20 bookings for lunch and 30 for dinner for Thursday, said Rix. “We ended up with four diners, one of whom was the lady over the road who came in because her boiler had broken down.”

In Cardiff, Carl Tugwell of Tugwell Master Builders described last week’s weather as horrendous. “We have lost so much time. It’s been difficult for workers – when there is no work there is no pay, and we haven’t been able to work for three days now.”

On top of the financial impact, there are also fears about the likely effect of last week’s weather on the health of the nation.

Ice climbers tackle a frozen waterfall in Brecon Beacons national park, Wales. Photograph: Ben Birchall/PA

“We are admitting many frail elderly people with severe bronchopneumonia, strokes, heart and respiratory failure,” said Dr Nick Scriven, president of the Society for Acute Medicine. “But there are also all those problems associated with the direct cold and the fact that people are doing things, like sledging, that they don’t usually do and so are suffering more fractured hips, severe hypothermia, broken legs and severe facial injuries.

“This is on top of the influenza epidemic that was already here. The big fear is that there are people out there who are seriously ill who cannot access the service the need, and are deteriorating while waiting for help. We will not know the true human cost until the figures for the coming week are published, in 10 days or so.

“Overall the efforts made by very many NHS staff have been immense, and truly they have gone so far beyond the ‘normal’. It is incredible. But this cannot go on without major risks to the wellbeing of these people.”

However, one happier note was sounded in Lennoxtown, where local men got together to clear roads and people’s driveways.

“It took twice as long as it ought to have done as we all stopped every few minutes for a blether,” said local resident Ronnie Shepherd.

“The absence of traffic also had people walking to the shops and stopping to talk to each other, just as I remember them doing when I was young. Although it was an inconvenience for most people, the snow actually brought communities together. Perhaps it has actually done more good than harm.”