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Coldest Easter on Record in United Kingdom

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Snow blanketed most of Great Britain, stretching from London to the northern tip of Scotland. (Image credit: NASA image courtesy Jeff Schmaltz, LANCE MODIS Rapid Response.)

This article was provided by AccuWeather.com.

The lowest Easter temperature in recorded history across the United Kingdom occurred in Braemar, Scotland, as the temperatures fell to -12.5 C (9.5 F) Sunday. This broke the previous record of -9.8 C (14.4 F) set in 1986, according the the Met Office.

The cold comes as no surprise to anyone in the United Kingdom as March has been very cold with frequent snow. The Met Office reported through March 26 that the average temperature across the entire United Kingdom was 2.5-3.0 C below normal, on pace to be the coldest March since 1962.

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This is a dramatic change from last March which brought unseasonable warmth. The average temperature in London during March 2012 was 3.2 C (5.8 F) above normal while this March, through the first 30 days, is averaging 2.5 C (4.4 F) below normal.

Snow covered much of the United Kingdom during the final week of March this year, contrasting with little or no snow cover during the same time period just a year ago.

This current streak of cold weather is in no hurry to exit the region as a large area of high pressure to the northeast will continue to push unseasonable cold across the entire United Kingdom into next weekend.

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