Temperatures in Wales drop to -7.9°C as schools closed in cold snap

There have been warnings for snow and ice in Wales this week
There have been weather warnings for ice and snow in place across Wales this week. Credit: ITV Cymru Wales

Temperatures in Wales dropped to -6.5° overnight on Thursday, 9 January, on what was the UK's coldest January night in 15 years.

The Met Office had issued several snow and ice weather warnings for the country across the week, with forecasters warning the cold snap is set to continue.

Wales actually experienced its coldest night of the winter on Wednesday, 8 January, with temperatures dropping to -7.9°C in Sennybridge, Powys. This rose slightly overnight on Thursday where lows of -6.5°C were recorded in Hawarden Airport, Clwyd, and Sennybridge.

It comes as the UK recorded its coldest January night in 15 years on Thursday, with a hamlet in Sutherland - the most northern region of the Highlands - experiencing a -14.5°C temperature overnight into Friday, making it the UK's coldest January overnight temperature since 2010.

In Wales, around 90 schools were closed across Wales on Thursday, with more than 30 remaining closed in Flintshire, Gwynedd, Denbighshire and Conwy on Friday.

As well as school closures, there has been disruption to roads with the A44 between Ponterwyd and Nant-yr-Arian in Ceredigion closed until further notice after a HGV left the carriageway.

Car insurer RAC also said it had seen the highest levels of demand for rescues in a three-day period since December 2022.

On Thursday, Transport for Wales closed some railway lines in the country due to track damage following a period of “heavy wind, rain and snow”.

The Met Office has said Friday will see “the start of a change to our weather” with milder temperatures “attempting to move in from the south west through the morning”. But this is expected to only make “limited progress” and patchy rain, sleet and snow is expected across parts of the UK over the weekend and into next week.

The forecaster added: “Amounts of snow are uncertain – probably small and confined to high ground, but there is a risk of icy surfaces in places. Much of the rest of the UK will have another dry and bright day but remaining very cold, with few freezing fog patches lasting all day.”

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