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Is this January one of the coldest the UK has experienced?

Is this January one of the coldest the UK has experienced?
Is this January one of the coldest the UK has experienced? Is this January one of the coldest the UK has experienced?

The festive season is officially over and as you reluctantly drag yourself to work this week, you may notice the new year has brought along a frostier climate.

Temperatures dropped below freezing in many parts of the country this week, with lows of minus 6.8C (19.8F) at Exeter Airport, Devon.

While this January may feel colder than many before, is it one of the coldest the UK has experienced? No, not at all.

So far this year we’ve experienced lows of minus 6.8, but in 2016 the mercury actually dropped to minus 12.4C in Kinbrace, Sutherland. The year before that temperatures of minus 13.7C chilled Loch Glascarnoch, Highland.

The coldest January on record was in 1982, where the temperatures dropped to minus 27.2C in Braemar, Aberdeenshire.

(Steve Parsons/PA)

Many of these temperatures were recorded toward the end of the month though, so we’ve still got a few weeks to go.