The UK faces the coldest day and night of the year amid fears the temperature could drop to -20C. The UK faces the coldest day for four years on Wednesday and Thursday, it has emerged, days after snow chaos hit the country this week.
BBC weather forecaster Simon King explained: “With clearing skies and lighter winds on Wednesday night, temperatures will drop quite rapidly below freezing. Across most parts of the UK there will be a hard frost with minimum temperatures getting down between -3C and -10C widely.
“Where there is still snow cover, it could be as cold as -14C to -16C, making Wednesday the coldest night of winter so far. Over the Pennines and the snow fields of Scotland, we are expecting minimum temperatures to be -16C to -20 C.
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“The last time the UK recorded a temperature that low was on 11 February 2021, when the temperature at Braemar in Aberdeenshire fell to -23C. While flooding and further wintry showers continue to affect parts of the United Kingdom, the cold snap will continue until the end of this week.
“The cold Arctic air that is currently across the UK will stick around for the rest of the week bringing some of the coldest weather of the winter so far. While widespread and hard frosts are likely overnight, daytime temperatures will stay well below average for this time of year.”
The BBC website explains: “Today, a band of rain will move across the far south of England, possibly bringing some sleet and snow locally. Drier further north with wintry sunshine, but snow showers continue in north Scotland.
“Tonight will be a bitterly cold night with a widespread frost and icy stretches. Snow showers for north and west Scotland, Northern Ireland and into north-western parts of Wales but drier elsewhere.”