If the Ice Team imagined they’d be arriving home for some instant R&R, they soon realised it wasn’t going to be the case.  From the moment they were greeted at Heathrow Airport by a welcoming group of more than a dozen family, friends and colleagues – their feet hardly touched the ground.

Looking remarkably fit and well, Pen Hadow, Ann Daniels and Martin Hartley returned to the CAS Operation Headquarters in Leadenhall Street in the City to applause from the gathered guests and a bucks fizz reception.

The media circus then kicked off.  Amid the hubbub of the reception, the three were individually and collectively shepherded into quiet corners of the office for newspaper and magazine interviews.  The following morning, they appeared on BBC Breakfast TV and radio programmes across the whole country.

They have now returned home for a couple of days before more interviews at the end of the week.