by Adam Williams

awilliams@thekmgroup.co.uk

Brian Lewis watched on at the weekend as the mercury dropped to a record low of -11 degrees C.

The semi-professional meteorologist recorded chart-busting temperatures on Friday night in Elham, the coldest he’s known in more than 50 years.

Clear skies, a cold front blowing in from continental Europe to the east coast of England and freezing snow and ice on the ground all contributed to rock-bottom temperatures across the weekend. But, the good news is Met Office officials say we’ve seen the worst of the belated cold snap.

Retired chartered surveyor Brian, 68, has been recording extremes of hot and cold from his Pound Lane home for decades and admits Elham has always been in the firing line for below average temperatures.

He said: “Friday night was without doubt the coldest I’ve known since the big freeze of 1962/63.

“I’m always very sceptical when I see the forecasts on TV and they predict such low temperatures, but my radio-controlled instruments recorded -11 degrees C, which is just 11.7 degrees F. Elham and indeed the area down to Etchinghill and Lyminge south of Canterbury has always been somewhere which records lower than average temperatures.

“Last weekend’s snowfall was also the highest recorded across the county with 7ins and that has to be down to the geography of the place.”

Met Office spokesman Dan Williams confirmed while there is no official weather station in Canterbury, recorded overnight lows on Friday night and Saturday morning were -10.1 degrees C in East Malling and -6.3 degrees C in Manston.

He said: “There’s a combination of factors for those low readings. Cold air and a clear night being the main contributors, but when snow is already lying on the ground it can act as an ice pack, keeping temperatures lower and colder.

“Light winds also meant the cold and hot air in the atmosphere didn’t circulate as easily. Also, because cold air always falls and hot air rises, if you live in a valley like Mr Lewis does, you will always experience colder temperatures than if you live by the coast or in a city centre.”

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