It’s going to be colder than Siberia, experts warn
SNOW stopped play at cricket matches yesterday as an unseasonable cold snap prompted bookmakers to slash the odds on this month becoming the coldest April on record.
Play was temporarily suspended at Edgbaston, the Hampshire Ageas Bowl and the Oval as snow flurries arrived at lunchtime across London and other parts of southern England.
Parts of Britain will be even colder than Siberia in the coming days, with forecasters predicting lows of 23F (-5C). In Tomsk in Siberia temperatures are expected to stay above freezing with lows of 33.8F (1C).
Hopes for a sunny May bank holiday are fading as forecasters predict that the unsettled weather will continue.
Ladbrokes cut the odds for this April to be the coldest on record to 5-1 from 8-1. The bookmaker also slashed the odds on May making the record books for cold from 8-1 to 2-1.
Billy Payne, a forecaster for Meteo Group, said temperatures were about five degrees colder than expected for late April, with average lows this week due to be below freezing at around 30F (-1C), compared with expected levels of 41-43F (5-6C).
The coldest April on record was in 1917 when the overall average temperature was 39.7F (4.3C).
While the average for the first half of April this year was above that level, at 44.4F (6.9C), the overall average for the month could be lower after the recent cold snap.
Widespread heavy showers are expected today with frost and some icy patches likely overnight.