Scotland saw its coldest January night in 15 years last night as the temperature plummeted as low as -18.7C. According to the Met Office, Altnaharra in Sutherland recorded the bone-chilling figure on Friday, as the winter weather continues to bite.
The forecasters have put out weather warnings for snow and ice on an almost-daily basis since the turn of the year, and last night was the peak so far. Altnaharra reached -18.7C at around 10pm, with the freezing conditions continuing overnight.
This was the lowest the mercury has dropped in the first month of the year in the UK since 2010, where -22.3C was recorded on January 8, also in Altnaharra.
Last night, Hamilton Accies and Partick Thistle players had to contend with -8C as they faced off in the Scottish Championship, with the Jags coming out 2-1 victors in Lanarkshire. And it wasn’t just Scotland that saw subzero temperatures.
It was -11C in Shap, Cumbria, and Heathrow recorded -5C. The Highlands usually see an average low of 0.3C at this time of year, with overnight lows in England normally around 1.5C
Met Office meteorologist Zoe Hutin said Saturday is forecast to be cold too, with temperatures expected to drop widely to below freezing overnight in eastern areas. She said: “So another chilly night to come on Saturday, but then as we go into Sunday and into Monday, then we can start to expect temperatures to recover somewhat.
“I won’t rule out the risk of seeing something around or just below freezing again on Sunday night into Monday, but it won’t be quite so dramatic as the temperatures that we’re going to experience as we go overnight tonight.”
Looking ahead to next week, she said: “We’re saying it’s getting milder but by no stretch does that mean (temperatures) are going to be above average, it just will feel comparatively much more pleasant than it is at the moment.”
The UK has experienced a “particularly long cold spell”, she said, adding: “It has been getting progressively colder each night this week, whereas looking at previous years, we’ve had maybe two or three days where things have been particularly cold.”
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