Temperatures dropped to their lowest November levels for six years in parts of the UK yesterday as Britons awoke to thick frost.
While the mercury fell as low as -7C last night - the beginning of meteorological winter - it was even colder on Wednesday when the village of Sennybridge, Powys, recorded a temperature of -9.7C, the lowest for November since 2010 in England and Wales.
The same mid-Wales region shivered at -17.3C that year.
Dr Jeff Knight, from the Met Office, said: "This time last year our outlook gave advance warning of the risk of the risk of the very mild, stormy and wet start to winter that was linked to the flooding in Cumbria, but this year indications are very different.
"Weather patterns with more frequent northerly or easterly winds are favoured, which increases the risk of cold weather."
The Met Office said there may be less risk of cold conditions later in the winter.
Its meteorologists tweeted this morning that there was a 17C difference in temperatures across the country last night, from 10C in Scotland to -7C in Wales and parts of the south.
