Don’t despair, it’ll be hotter than Athens by tomorrow!
SNOW and rain swept across the UK yesterday after the coldest night in nearly two years.
Up to a foot of snow fell in Scotland and on hill tops in northern England, but it also covered fields as far south as the Cotswold and Home Counties.
And the Queen had to take shelter under an umbrella as she braved freezing conditions when she attended church near Sandringham.
While floods caused landslips in South West England, there was some good news – by tomorrow it could hit 15C (59F), and that’s warmer than Athens, where it is only expected to reach 12C (54F).
Temperatures had plummeted overnight, with a low of –14C (7F) recorded in the Highland village of Kinbrace. There was just under an inch of snow in Little Rissington, Gloucestershire, and flakes of snow in north London.
In Norfolk, it started snowing while the Queen attended the morning service at St Lawrence Church in Castle Rising with Prince Philip, the Duke of York, Princess Beatrice and Princess Eugenie.
The 91-year- old, who was wearing a long green coat with a matching hat, sheltered under an umbrella as she left.
The Queen amused onlookers by taking a wrong turning as she walked back to her Range Rover. She had been dropped off at the main gate, but her car went to a side gate to pick up her and 96year-old Philip. A church warden mistakenly guided her back towards the main gate, prompting an onlooker to shout: ‘No’.
The Queen turned round when she realised the mistake and headed to the side gate. The snow caused treacherous conditions – with some major roads in the Pennines and Cumbria left impassable – before turning to rain in the evening. Glasgow Airport was temporarily closed and five people were hurt in a two- car crash on the A82 near Glen Coe. But where the weather was milder in South West England, an inch and a half of rain fell in 12 hours. Devon was particularly badly hit. Ten homes were flooded in the villages of Swimbridge and Landkey. Flooding and landslips blocked roads including the A399 at Combe Martin and A361 near Barnstaple. The Met Office said the polar air has now been replaced with a western airstream from the Caribbean, bringing much milder temperatures. Meteorologist Alex Burkill said: ‘Once a band of rain clears out of the way tomorrow, temperatures, could reach 15C (59F) in eastern Wales and parts of the West Midlands where the cloud breaks.’
‘Landslips and blocked roads’