Big freeze goes on as Britain is braced for -16C . . . but it’s not quite a polar vortex yet
BRITAIN was last night bracing itself for its coldest evening for almost a decade, with the Met Office warning that some parts of Scotland could today see temperatures plunge to -16C (3.2F).
Benson in Oxfordshire could also experience lows of -10C (14F), with the lingering snow and wintry conditions affecting most of the country, said meteorologist Alex Burkill.
But although the cold snap is predicted to begin to break in some areas tomorrow, Britons shouldn’t feel too optimistic: galeforce winds of up to 50mph are likely to arrive by Thursday, with freezing temperatures and snow continuing until next month.
The forecasts came after motorists were stranded for a second night as heavy snow blocked roads and icy conditions brought traffic to a standstill.
In Newbury, Berkshire, an off-duty fireman was forced to tow an ambulance eight miles through a blizzard so that a woman could have her baby.
The unnamed fireman came across the emergency vehicle by chance on the A330 and pulled it to Basingstoke and North Hampshire Hospital, where mother and baby are doing well.
In other incidents, police rescued an eight-week-old baby from a vehicle which skidded off a road in Bracknell, Berkshire, and a woman who went to the aid of a dog after it fell into a river was saved in Haddington, East Lothian. Heavy snow also brought chaos to parts of the M3 in Hampshire where police worked to free motorists until 2am yesterday. Across the country, hazardous conditions forced other drivers to abandon their vehicles.
Though the cold has proved an inconvenience for many in Britain, in the US it has proved deadly. The death toll from the polar vortex that hit the northern US rose to 26 yesterday, with thousands more left injured. Ninety million people – about a third of Americans – experienced temperatures of -17C (1.4F) or below.