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Peterborough weather: Coldest night of the winter
Pollarded willows along the River Nene embankment stand as sculptures in a snow filled landscape. Photo: Rowland Hobson/Peterborough ET
Saturday 10.30am: Temperatures plummeted well below freezing last night, dropping to -13.5C in Peterborough while Holbeach was the coldest place in the country.
The Met Office has confirmed that Holbeach saw the lowest temperature seen in England this winter as the mercury fell to -15.6C overnight.
Peterborough was similarly freezing, with a low of -13.5C recorded overnight to follow the snowfall experienced overnight between Thursday and Friday.
Around four centimetres of snow fell across the city on Thursday night, giving people and their pets a chance to frolick in the wintry conditions across the city and surrounding villages.
In pictures: Snow in Peterborough, February 2012 - captured by our ET photographers
Send yours to eteditor@peterboroughtoday.co.uk
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Temperatures are expected to plummet again tonight and it will be cold again tomorrow according to the Met Office, before starting to rise again on Monday.
Latest Peterborough forecast from the Met Office
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Ice is expected to form across the eastern region, leading to warnings being issued for drivers.
The Met Office has issued ‘yellow’ warnings telling people to be aware of ice throughout Saturday and Sunday.
A spokeswoman for the Met Office said: “People will need to drive carefully over the next 48 hours. The snow is going to clear but will turn to ice as temperatures stay low.
“Snowfall across the Peterborough area ranged from between three to five centimetres on Thursday night.
“The cold conditions are going to continue for a while. Saturday will be frosty and icy across the region with some sunshine coming through, but temperatures will reach only as high as one degree Celsius.
“Sunday is going to be cloudy and there will be the odd snow or sleet shower but these will be light.
“Monday will be windy but temperatures are going to start to climb and will reach five degrees.”
Despite Thursday’s heavy snowfall, only one school in the Peterborough area closed yesterday, Nene Gate School, in Park Lane, Eastfield.
A spokesman for Peterborough City Council said: “Our gritters were out on Friday afternoon in anticipation of ice forming over night.
“We’ve been treating link roads and other estate-type through roads that are not on our precautionary network with a mix of 50/50 salt and grit to help break up compacted snow and help with traction.
“We have also been responding to calls and completing spot treatments of localised areas of footway and roads including junctions.
“We have 1,294 tonnes of salt available, having used 472 tonnes since last Friday.”
See also: Posh appeal for volunteers ahead of pitch inspection | latest Peterborough United news
WEATHER records that include the size of a snowfall have only been kept for about 100 years, so the size of the heaviest snowfall of all time is unknown.
But in 1921, the heaviest daily snow on record struck Silver Lake, Colorado, where 193 centimetres of snow fell in 24 hours.
The largest single snowstorm on record, though, fell on parts of Alaska in 1955. This storm lasted five days and left over four metres and 44 centimetres of snow on the ground.
During the early 1970s, the heaviest annual snowfall in the world was recorded.
This was 31 metres of snow which fell on Mount Rainer in Washington.
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Weather for Peterborough
Saturday 26 May 2012
Today
Sunny
Temperature: 11 C to 23 C
Wind Speed: 20 mph
Wind direction: East
Tomorrow
Sunny
Temperature: 10 C to 23 C
Wind Speed: 15 mph
Wind direction: East
Comments
There are 12 comments to this article
Page 1 of 1
Amanda J Porter
Monday, February 13, 2012 at 12:01 AMDavid R. Sorry to be a pedant, but should that be "Peterborian"? This is the Peterborough ET, not the Peterburgh ET. I have friends in Alberta and they laugh at me moaning about the cold. This is nothing to them! And GNAT, I agree with you! I live in Bourne and the majority of the roads have been very well cleared and are passable.
David R. (Canada)
Sunday, February 12, 2012 at 05:04 PMAs an ex-Peterburghian now living in Alberta, Canada, I find this article quite funny! We are having a warm winter this year. Last night the temperature got down to -16 deg C. Yesterday the high temperature was -6 deg C. ( remember, this unusually warm). Average normals for this time of year are highs -20, lows -30 to -35 deg C. some nights dipping to -50 deg C. The children around here still play outside in the school playground when it's -25 deg C. Just put on your long-johns and go out for a walk in the sun. I suspect Al Gore is losing a lot of sleep trying to figure out how to blame it all on global warming.
Ex Millfield Boy
Sunday, February 12, 2012 at 12:42 AMIt's winter.....simples. I am, however, amazed at the conditions of the main roads. I assume that lessons learned from the last two winters have hit home plus the fact that we've only had snowfalls in the last week or so instead of November and December of the previous two winters...
Trigger
Saturday, February 11, 2012 at 05:29 PMHave to agree with GNAT most of the area has been well salted lucky no snow fell last night though because it would be too cold for the salt to melt the snow.
GNAT
Saturday, February 11, 2012 at 04:57 PMCompared to the usual shambles that happens when we get a centimetre of snow, I would just like to congratulate all the gritting ploughing teams around the Bourne and Deepings area over the last two snowfalls for keeping the roads open and relatively trouble free. No I dont work for the council, but we are quick enough to critisise when they mess up. Well done lads . keep up the good work .
julieb5623
Saturday, February 11, 2012 at 12:56 PMdoes any else have frozen pipes and no running water? whats the best thing to do?
Lazy Daisy
Saturday, February 11, 2012 at 10:19 AM@1- frozen triffids? It was -10 in my shed this morning and the water I put out for the birds at 9am was frozen by 10am.
Outcast
Saturday, February 11, 2012 at 09:30 AMRMS_70 .. Yup.. minus 15 on A605 from Thrapston to Oundle early this morning. (01:30).. Kinda strange as it was a balmy 1 degree in Redditch !!
RMS_70
Friday, February 10, 2012 at 10:36 PMoh and the roads haven`t been gritted
RMS_70
Friday, February 10, 2012 at 10:35 PMwell guys just come down the A43 from corby to stamford and the temp got down too minus 15
Amanda J Porter
Friday, February 10, 2012 at 09:09 PMSnow? In February? Woulda thunk it!
Sofedup
Friday, February 10, 2012 at 08:18 PMI'm sorry but that picture of the willows looks creepy to me, it looks like they might start walking any minute!
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