Weather latest: mercury plunges to –18C south of Border

SCOTLAND enjoyed above zero temperatures yesterday although the rest of Britain struggled to rise above freezing after the coldest night of the winter so far.

The mercury plummeted to just under –18C (–0.4F) in southern England, according to forecasters, as families setting off on half-term getaways were warned of “deceptively dangerous” road conditions.

Scotland escaped the worst of the cold snap, because the cold air originated in Russia and made its way across continental Europe by easterly winds before heading north to England. The winds only drove the cold front as far as the Border.

Temperatures were around two degrees yesterday but are expected to rise to five degrees today and seven degrees tomorrow.

Many places stayed below freezing south of the Border with sporting fixtures cancelled because of the record-breaking cold snap.

But the cold spell seems to be coming to an end, with temperatures expected to rise slowly this week, forecasters said.

Paul Knightley, forecaster for MeteoGroup, said: “We had the coldest night of the winter on Friday night/Saturday morning. The temperature in Chesham, Buckinghamshire, got as low as minus 18.3C (–0.94F).”

Extremely low temperatures were recorded in other areas across the country, down to –15.6C (3.92F) in Holbeach, Lincolnshire, and –11C (12.2F) in Charnwood, Surrey, he said.

The Met Office said it had probably been the coldest night in England since December 2010 with temperatures widely below –10C (14F) across Lincolnshire, Cambridgeshire, Oxfordshire, Hertfordshire and Bedfordshire.

Knightley said snow was beginning to disappear in some areas. “We are coming to the end of the cold spell. It’s going to be a slow process so it’s not going to suddenly be massively mild,” he said.

“Some places will see a dramatic change in temperature but it may not be something people necessarily notice.”

Tonight will see “bitterly cold” temperatures for the first part of the night.