The tiny hamlet of Altnaharra (Scottish Gaelic: Allt na h-Eirbhe) has been making the news these days as the coldest place in Britain with temperatures dropping as low as -21.6ºC last night. Altnaharra, which means Stream at the boundary wall in Gaelic, also holds the equal absolute equal record for the coldest ever temperatures in the UK (together with Braemar (Aberdeenshire), thanks to its northerly latitude and inland location. On December 30, 1995 the mercury dropped to a parky -27.2ºC. Let’s see if this record is beaten this year…
Wikipedia reports, interestingly, that on the 20th March 2009, Altnaharra was actually the warmest place in the UK, recording 18.5°C. This was the weather station’s warmest recorded March temperature, and possibly the first time the station had recorded the warmest UK temperature. On the same day, it also recorded the second coldest overnight temperature in the UK, at -3°C, giving an indication of how quickly weather conditions can change in remote areas.