Cold weather to continue over Easter weekend

Cold easterly winds will remain firmly in charge of our weather but for the majority of the UK it should be dry. However, until Sunday the wind will be less strong and it will therefore feel a little less bitter.

There will also be some sunshine with temperatures rising to no more than 4 or 5 Celsius along with frosty nights.

Frank Saunders, Met Office Chief Forecaster, said: "The prospect of drier and brighter weather will be a welcome relief for many but the prolonged low temperatures will mean that any lying snow will be slow to thaw.

"This will maintain sharp night-time frosts and a risk of ice, and people should be aware of the potential for tricky driving conditions if they are travelling this weekend."

Coldest March for the UK since 1962
This March is set to be the coldest since 1962 in the UK in the national record dating back to 1910, according to provisional Met Office statistic.

From 1 to 26 March the UK mean temperature was 2.5 °C, which is three degrees below the long term average. This also makes it joint 4th coldest on record in the UK.

Looking at individual countries, March 2013 is likely to be the 4th coldest on record for England, joint third coldest for Wales, joint 8th coldest for Scotland and 6th coldest for Northern Ireland.

Clearly March has been extremely cold and snowy and joins 2006, 2001, 1995, 1987, 1979, 1970 and 1962 as years when March saw some significant snowfall. Once all the figures are in, it's possible that the December to March period for 2012/13 will be comparable with 2010/11, 2009/10 or winters in the mid-1980s.