UK record cold

Easter Sunday coldest on record

Met Office confirms temperatures of -12.5C in Scottish Highlands, beating previous record of -9.8C set in 1986

the Guardian,

31 March, 2013

The UK has recorded its coldest Easter Sunday for more than 50 years, with overnight temperatures dipping to below -12C in Scotland. The Met Office confirmed it had registered a temperature of -12.5 in Braemar, Aberdeenshire, in the Scottish Highlands. With modern records dating back to 1960, Sunday's freezing weather beat the previous record of -9.8, set in 1986.

The freezing temperatures, deep snowdrifts and bitter easterly winds stand in stark contrast to last year's mini-heatwave, when the mercury in Aboyne, Aberdeenshire, reached 22.9C on 26 March.

The Met Office said the month of March still looked set to be the coldest since 1962 and the fourth coldest since 1910.

From 1-26 March the UK mean temperature was 2.5C, three degrees below the long-term average.

March is likely to be the fourth coldest on record for England, joint third coldest for Wales, joint eighth coldest for Scotland and sixth coldest for Northern Ireland.

The week ahead is likely to remain extremely cold but snow is likely to hold off in most places....