Happy Freez-ter! Chilly start to British Summer Time as Arctic weather continues

If you thought turning the clocks forward an hour for British Summer Time would bring milder weather to Britain, think again! Bank Holiday weekend has been dubbed Freez-ter as the Arctic weather continues to grip the UK.

Saturday saw the coldest recorded Easter temperature of -10.9C at Braemar, Aberdeenshire, The Sun reports.

And the Met Office says there is "no sign" of the cold easing for at least a week.

Leon Brown, forecaster at The Weather Channel told AOL Travel: "There is no change with the weather outlook as the cold block stays in place across northern Europe. Easter weekend is expected to stay dry with widespread overnight frosts and some sunshine.

"The best of the sunshine is in the west and in the early part of the day with cloud tending to build from later morning and through the afternoon, then melting away again with clearer skies overnight."

Mr Brown added: "Temperatures are widely minus 4 to minus 6C overnight in rural areas, and down to minus 8 to minus 10C from Wales to northern England and Scotland.

"By day where there's some sunshine temperatures will reach 6 to 7C in the west, but 5C is more typical across central and eastern Britain, therefore still 6C or more below average."

He said little change is expected next week and it will be "dry and bright with night frost, although perhaps a degree or so warmer by day at 7C".

"It may begin to feel colder later as the easterly winds freshen across southern Britain with a higher wind-chill," added Mr Brown.

Meanwhile, travel association ABTA estimated that 1.7 million Britons have headed for sunnier climes this Easter weekend. It said Spain, Egypt and Tunisia were the most popular destinations for Brits escaping the cold.

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