Coldest winter start in 30 years

The UK has experienced its coldest start to winter in more than 30 years, experts said.

The first third of December has been more nippy than normal, with the average temperature just 1.7C (35.06F), according to the Met Office. That is a marked drop on the long-term average of 4.7C (40.46F), suggesting the season could buck the trend for very mild winters.

Such a cold start to the month has not been seen since the 1970s, when UK average temperatures dropped to 0.8C (33.44F) in 1976, a spokesman said.

Some respite for those feeling the cold is expected in January and February, which are set to see milder conditions, though still with some cold snaps. Michael Dukes, forecast manager at MeteoGroup UK, the weather division of the Press Association, said: "It certainly has been a very cold start to December.

"The reason it's been so cold so far is that the Atlantic's been fairly quiet."

The lack of storms meant the warmer ocean air has not blown over to the UK, he said. "We've had polar air dominating the UK's weather - air originally from Greenland or the North Pole."

The cold snap has come as a surprise to some people, he said, but "even with global warming you will get cold winters from time to time". One upside is that the colder weather tends to be brighter and drier than the wet, windy winters of recent years. "We're only 12 days into December but we have already reached the normal amount of sunshine for the whole month," he said.

The month - and season - could still turn out to be mild overall, but winter woollies will remain necessary as the chill continues next week.

Nick Grahame, the Met Office's chief forecaster, said: "The start of the weekend will bring a spell of wet and windy weather as milder Atlantic air attempts to push across the country. However, colder air looks set to win the battle again which means that frost and ice will become hazards with the risk of snow in places."

The Met Office defines winter as the months December, January and February.