Britain braces for freezing fog and coldest nights

LONDON Nov 19: Britain will be bathed in freezing winter fog tonight with forecasters warning that Arctic air will drop temperatures as low as -9C (15.8F) in parts of the country, bringing the coldest night of autumn so far and widespread frost.

The ‘Arctic swell’ blowing from the North Pole into the UK means areas of Britain are now colder than Helsinki in Finland, with Tulloch Bridge in Scotland recording an overnight temperature of -8.6C (16.5F).

The Met Office has now issued a fog warning for much of southern and western England running from 4am until 11am today, amid warnings of possible disruption to trains and delays or cancellations to flights.

Public Health England has issued a cold weather alert for the North and Yorkshire and Humber regions, running until 12pm on Wednesday, urging people to watch out for the elderly and those with heart and lung problems.

Meanwhile, the UK is also set to be hit by more flooding this week, with two inches of rain expected to fall starting in western areas today, with other parts including flood-hit Yorkshire affected from Thursday.