January 6, 2011 10.33 am This story is over 157 months old

Last December coldest in Lincoln since 1910

Big freeze: Meteorologists say last December was the coldest on record for 100 years.

Provisional figures from the Met Office reveal that December 2010 has been the coldest December on record since 1910, not only in Lincoln, but in the whole country.

The mean temperature for the UK has been -1°C, well below the long-term average of 4.2°C. The previous coldest December in the record was 0.1 °C in 1981.

December 2010 saw some exceptionally cold and snowy weather across much of the country, with temperatures quite regularly falling below -10 °C overnight.

In Lincoln, temperatures struggled to get above freezing by day in the first part of December 2010, alongside continued snow fall for several days.

The exceptionally bad weather has led to major traffic problems in the city, school closures and train cancellations and disruptions.

Low temperatures also led to extensive road gritting across the county, with salt reserves for the year halved by the end of December 2010.

Perhaps the biggest blow to the city was the cancellation of the traditional Christmas market in early December due to weather-related conditions.

Over the last 50 winters, there have been eight comparable spells of weather, meteorologists at the Met Office said.

For the complete year the UK recorded a provisional mean temperature of 8°C, making it the 12th coldest year in the series back to 1910.

Sunshine and rainfall figures for 2010 are provisionally the 9th sunniest and the 10th driest in the respective series.

Source: Met Office | Photo: Steve Smailes