In northern Scotland, people are feeling the freeze as temperatures drop to an icy minus 18°C. Altnaharra, a small village in the northern Highlands, recorded this freezing temperature at 10 PM Friday night, and the cold continued well into Saturday morning. This is the coldest overnight temperature in January since 2010 when temperatures fell below minus 15°C in several places across the UK, even reaching minus 22.3°C in Altnaharra on January 8.
The Met Office, which tracks the weather, had mentioned a slight chance it could reach minus 19°C. Other areas in the UK also faced chilly nights, with Shap, Cumbria reaching minus 11°C, and Heathrow dropping to minus 5°C. Usually, at this time of year, average temperatures in northern Scotland are around 0.3°C, while in England, it tends to be slightly warmer, around 1.5°C to 1.6°C.
Met Office meteorologist Zoe Hutin warned that Saturday night will likely be cold too. “Eastern regions, including East Anglia, the northeast of England, and parts of northern and eastern Scotland, will see temperatures drop below freezing again,” she explained. However, as we move into Sunday and then Monday, temperatures should start to get a bit warmer. “There’s a chance temperatures could drop to around or just below freezing again late Sunday into Monday, but it won’t be as extreme as what we’re facing tonight.”
Looking ahead, Zoe said, “Temperatures will be milder next week, but that doesn’t mean they will be warm; it will just feel more pleasant than right now.” This week has been especially cold, she added. “Usually, in past years, we’ve only had two or three days of extreme cold, but this time, it’s been consistently chilly.”
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