Shares in London were hit by the cold snap today, falling sharply in thin trading.

The FTSE 100 index sank 56.45 points to 4093.19 as volumes suffered because of the swathes of empty desks in the City. Anger at the lack of preparation for the snow was already growing as traders warned that it will be another difficult day for the long-suffering financial sector.

"I think today will be a disaster, with next to nobody around," Jeremy Batstone-Carr, head of research at Charles Stanley, said. "It is a travesty that so little has been done even though we had warnings that this weather was coming. As a leading world city, perhaps Gordon Brown should be focusing on getting people into work."

Although many employees fought to get in to the City's biggest banks, many smaller institutions were operating with a skeleton staff.

"We've got around 60% of people in - and I think a lot of the big banks will be almost that full," a trader at one of the City's biggest investment banks said. "But there will be almost no one in at the hedge funds. A lot of their employees live in Surrey, in Oxfordshire or in Middlesex - those kinds of places - and without the trains, they'll be stuck."

Analysts forecast a very slow day of trading. David Buik of spread-better BGC Partners said:. "We're talking about Christmas Eve levels, probably about 70% down."

But some in the City said they would be fighting to get in later.

Batstone-Carr added: "At the moment, I can't get into work. I only live in Fulham but the roads haven't been gritted."