Lowest Temp?

[snowingman]

Ok - its cold and has been for 4 weeks

But how cold will it get??

Just watched a chart from the CMC model for Morning of the 9th January

-22C in highlands?? will we get to the lowest - -28.4C I think!!

that will really crown this cold period

http://www.weatheronline.co.uk/cgi-bin/expertcharts?LANG=en&MENU=0000000000&CONT=ukuk&MODELL=cmc&MODELLTYP=1&BASE=201001060000&VAR=tmp2&HH=78&ZOOM=0&ARCHIV=0&WMO=

[NorthernRab]

Certainly possible - I think any of the Scottish cities (Glasgow, Edinburgh, Inverness, Aberdeen, Dundee and Stirling) could beat the -19.9'C record for the coldest city temperature too, currently held by Glasgow.

[Stratos Ferric]

I very much doubt that any absolute cold records will be broken, but there are some spectacularly low temperatures around in central England this evening, and several "coldest since" type records are possible tonight. The evening drop off at Benson, and Woodford, for example, is remarkable by any standards, but in recent times almost certainly unprecedented, and indicative of locations sitting in sinks below uplands, with snow lying, fairly still air, and clear skies; perfect conditions for cold pooling.

The records set, for example in December 1981, occurred in not dissimilar conditions BUT built up over several days. The record minimum set at Shawbury, for example, and the minima in same period in the Scottish glens (e.g. Braemar) were marked by days where maxima stayed well below, if memory serves me right, -10C, with freezing fog abounding.

The current set up is likely to be too mobile, and also there is some ephemeral cloud around, both of which will spoil exceptionally low temperatures. Therefore, I'd suggest, some notable lows tonight, but not setting absolute records for the UK, nor coming close to it.

[damianslaw]

I very much doubt that any absolute cold records will be broken, but there are some spectacularly low temperatures around in central England this evening, and several "coldest since" type records are possible tonight. The evening drop off at Benson, and Woodford, for example, is remarkable by any standards, but in recent times almost certainly unprecedented, and indicative of locations sitting in sinks below uplands, with snow lying, fairly still air, and clear skies; perfect conditions for cold pooling.

The records set, for example in December 1981, occurred in not dissimilar conditions BUT built up over several days. The record minimum set at Shawbury, for example, and the minima in same period in the Scottish glens (e.g. Braemar) were marked by days where maxima stayed well below, if memory serves me right, -10C, with freezing fog abounding.

The current set up is likely to be too mobile, and also there is some ephemeral cloud around, both of which will spoil exceptionally low temperatures. Therefore, I'd suggest, some notable lows tonight, but not setting absolute records for the UK, nor coming close to it.

Yes I tend to agree with your comments, conditions in the coming days don't look ripe enough to produce record breaking cold. I think the BBC are right in putting a potential min of -20 degrees for the Highland this weekend, this seems very plausible. As for England somewhere could get close to the -16 degree mark perhaps on Saturday morning, though there will be a lot of wind about and some patchy cloud. Had we seen a high pressure develop centrally over the country right now then yes some very low minima would be likely, alas we have a fairly mobile set up with a strong wind setting in in the south and we have had not enough time for the cold to really deepen especially in england and wales, recent nights have only been just a bit below 0 degrees in much of central and southern england.

The cold we have now is a far cry from the likes of jan 87, dec 95 and even jan 97, its cold but we can't use the word severe.

[jethro]

Anyone know what the record low temp is for Benson? It's currently recording -15c. Seriously

[Optimus Prime]

Anyone know what the record low temp is for Benson? It's currently recording -15c. Seriously :lol:

-18.5c January 1982.

[Stratos Ferric]

Anyone know what the record low temp is for Benson? It's currently recording -15c. Seriously

This from the Daily Telegraph last January...

The temperature at Benson was the lowest in England since the current cold spell began last month, and the second lowest ever recorded in the area. The coldest was -2F (-18.7C) on Jan 14, 1982.

I'd like to see Benson verified: it's at least 7C colder than anything else in the very near vicinity at present (two stations I can see in Wallingford) and 10C and more colder than the rest of the Chilterns escarpment. That said it is an RAF station, so the readings ought to be robust, and another private station nearby is also showing -15C.

Looking at the drop off in visibility they've got an inversion now, cold air draining off the hills to the NE. Will be interesting to see how much lower it gets, if it gets much lower at all. Will need the breeze to stay very gentle and around its current vector.

[Nick L]

Benson has remained at around -15c for the midnight update, can it go any lower?

[MAF]

XCWeather reporting -29°C for Benbecula tonight. does that break any records?

http://www.xcweather.co.uk/

[Bartlett Low]

-14.9 for Woodford near Stockport at 22:00

[Optimus Prime]

Benson has remained at around -15c for the midnight update, can it go any lower?

The lowest temperatures are normally around 6 ish as the sun begins to move up. I don't quite understand the reason for this but I guess it could have something to do with air tending to dry further with some slight radiation energy.

I believe we could get some high level Stratospheric cloud later on. Even though this poses no threat for more then 20% cloud cover you wouldn't believe how anal temperatures are with regards to cloud cover.

[❄️❄️❄️❄️❄️❄️❄️❄️❄️]

XCWeather reporting -29°C for Benbecula tonight. does that break any records?

http://www.xcweather.co.uk/

only the record for longest ongoing temperature reading error!

[MAF]

only the record for longest ongoing temperature reading error!

yeah, i forgot to add the "tongue-in-cheek" smiley

few temps around the UK getting into minus double figure now. -14.9 °C recorded at Woodford in NW England. reckon Benson may be coldest minimum tonight though

[patrickshere]

That maps showing -17 in Benson!?

[Helvellyn]

benson now at -16.7.

might get close to the record by dawn.

[summer blizzard]

This from the Daily Telegraph last January...

The temperature at Benson was the lowest in England since the current cold spell began last month, and the second lowest ever recorded in the area. The coldest was -2F (-18.7C) on Jan 14, 1982.

I'd like to see Benson verified: it's at least 7C colder than anything else in the very near vicinity at present (two stations I can see in Wallingford) and 10C and more colder than the rest of the Chilterns escarpment. That said it is an RAF station, so the readings ought to be robust, and another private station nearby is also showing -15C.

Looking at the drop off in visibility they've got an inversion now, cold air draining off the hills to the NE. Will be interesting to see how much lower it gets, if it gets much lower at all. Will need the breeze to stay very gentle and around its current vector.

Given that the temperature there is -17C, i would say that the record will be broken by Dawn if verified, the date record for the UK will also go with it i would guess.

What is the coldest minimum for anywhere in England??

As for cities, Manchester is probably the coldest at -13C, is that close to the record there??

Off to bed now but look forward to finding out if records were broken in the morning, a warm -4C here at the moment.

[MAF]

Medium level cloud over Benson now. so temps going up a fraction

at 0200 -14.2 °C

[AderynCoch]

Given that the temperature there is -17C, i would say that the record will be broken by Dawn if verified, the date record for the UK will also go with it i would guess.

No, the lowest UK temperature for January 7th is -22.6C in 1982 (Braemar). That looks safe tonight.

What is the coldest minimum for anywhere in England??

-26.1C at Newport, Shropshire (January 10th, 1982).

[J07]

The lowest temperatures are normally around 6 ish as the sun begins to move up. I don't quite understand the reason for this but I guess it could have something to do with air tending to dry further with some slight radiation energy.

On a standard night (cool, clear, no deep advection), coldest temperatures would be about 30 minutes after sunrise. This is because the coldest air has pooled at the surface during the overnight cooling period (say it can be 3C or 4C lower than the 1.5m temperature, hence why you get ground frosts when there is no air frost), and the rising of the sun destabilises this lowest wedge of air, and allows some mixing to take place (previously the stability profile would prevent this). The mixing allows the coldest surface air to influence the 1.5m temperature.

[FENDER.]

No, the lowest UK temperature for January 7th is -22.6C in 1982 (Braemar). That looks safe tonight.

-26.1C at Newport, Shropshire (January 10th, 1982).

Shawbury, not Newport

[GreatBarr]

-9 here in Birmingham and cant I just feel it!! Bloody freezing here (sorry to state the obvious) I even see an icicle hanging off a traffic light

EDIT: Is anybody able to change my name to 'GreatBarrWeather' as thats where I have moved too

[casparjack]

Shawbury, not Newport

It wasn't Shawbury, it was recorded at Harper Adams Agricultural College in Newport, Shropshire. Shawbury was -25c that night.

[AderynCoch]

Just to clear any confusion - Shawbury recorded -25.2C on the morning of 13th December 1981, which was a new English record at the time. This was then broken the following month with the -26.1C in Newport.

[Big Innes Madori]

Hi All,

Anyone know what the official lowest temp was for last night and where?

Just spoken with a delivery guy who came to the office at work and he said that he heard that Whitburn West Lothian had hit -22.5 Deg C last night I also heard a punter calling Radio Forth this morning and telling Boogie that he had a -20 Deg C reading on his car, some place in East Lothian

I did see a - 11 Deg C on the car display while driving to work this morning on the south side of the Forth bridge

Anyone ?

Big Innes

[bingobob777]

Hi All,

Anyone know what the official lowest temp was for last night and where?

Just spoken with a delivery guy who came to the office at work and he said that he heard that Whitburn West Lothian had hit -22.5 Deg C last night I also heard a punter calling Radio Forth this morning and telling Boogie that he had a -20 Deg C reading on his car, some place in East Lothian

I did see a - 11 Deg C on the car display while driving to work this morning on the south side of the Forth bridge

Anyone ?

Big Innes

My car briefly dropped to -15c just as I came off the mate at J4 this morning heading for Bathgate, it was -14.5c in Bathgate itself. Whitburn only a few miles from there