Chilly finish to May bank holiday weekend

Widespread freezing temperatures have brought one of the chilliest starts to an early May bank holiday.

Temperatures dipped as low as -4.3C as icy Arctic air flowed southwards, leaving northern areas with patches of frost and some sleet over high ground in Scotland.

The minimum was recorded at Katesbridge in Co Down, while a low of -2.4C was seen at Shap in Cumbria and -1C at Loch Glascarnoch in the Highlands.

The lowest recorded temperature for the early May bank holiday Monday was -5.9C on 7 May 2012 at Kinbrace in Sutherland.

Met Office me te oro logist Simon Partridge said: “We’ re stuck between high pressure to the west of us and low pressure to the east, which is giving us northerly winds. It’s drawing air straight down from the Arctic.”

Scotland finished the bank holiday weekend yesterday with widespread showers.

The temperature gauge struggled to reach double digits the country’ s two major cities, with Edinburgh briefly peaking at 9 C and Glasgow reaching 10C.

Temperatures are expected to remain in single figures over the next 48 hours.