UK hit by blast of wintry weather as temperatures plummet
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Temperatures fall to -5C overnight as Britain braces for week-long cold spell with snow and freezing rain forecast. The UK has been hit by a blast of cold weather, with temperatures falling as low as -5C (23F) overnight amid forecasts of snow and freezing rain.
Meteorologists had warned that temperatures overnight could plummet to as low as -8C as a week-long spell of wintry conditions hit the UK. Initial data indicated that Rostherne in Cheshire and in Yeovilton in Somerset dropped to -5C overnight. In Scotland, Eskdalemuir in Dumfries and Galloway felt the same chilly temperatures, hitting -5C at 11pm on Thursday.
UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) cold weather health alerts for all of England remained in place before a week of low temperatures. Amber alerts were issued on Thursday and will run until 8 January, meaning a rise in the number of deaths, particularly among those aged 65 and over or with health conditions, is likely, the UKHSA said.
Dan Stroud, a meteorologist at the Met Office, said conditions should become warmer by the end of this weekend before the cold weather returns early next week. He said: “The second half of the weekend should be in the high singles or low doubles (for temperature figures). But temperatures will dive again next week, particularly on Monday and Tuesday.
“They should start to improve towards the latter end of the week. But there’s a lot of water to go under the bridge until then.”. Met Office warnings were in place for snow and ice on Friday across parts of Scotland, Wales, Northern Ireland and northern England.
