Fifteen weather stations across the UK recorded their lowest temperatures ever for February overnight on Wednesday, according to the Met Office.

The forecaster’s station in Braemar, Aberdeenshire, recorded a temperature of minus 23C, the lowest in the UK since 1995.

And the “extreme freeze” also saw the mercury plummet in areas in the Scottish Highlands, such as Kinbrace and Strathallan, to minus 21.3C and minus 18.2C respectively.

The lowest temperature recorded in England and Wales was at Ravensworth, in north Yorkshire, which dropped to minus 13.1C.

Oli Claydon, a spokesman for the Met Office, said that some of the records had been broken by “quite some way”.

“Usually you’d expect records to be broken by point such-and-such of a degree but here we’re looking at big differences,” he said.

The previous lowest temperature recorded at Strathallan was minus 13.8C – a difference of 4.4 degrees.

Elsewhere, Chillingham Barns in Northumberland dropped to minus 12C and Shap in Cumbria recorded a low of minus 11.6C.

The joint record for the lowest temperature ever recorded in the UK is held by Braemar and Altnaharra, in the Scottish Highlands, which have recorded minus 27.2C on three separate occasions.

A video taken by James Beaumont, 33, in the village of Boat of Garten, near to Braemar, showed a cup of hot water instantly turning to ice when thrown into the air.

A picture posted by Scot Rail showed large blocks of ice that had formed underneath one of its high-speed trains.

“We’ll use enormous heaters to melt the ice, but it can take hours,” the company tweeted.

Scattered yellow weather warnings remain in place for parts of Scotland and northern England until Saturday.

Mr Claydon continued: “There’s still a couple of days of cold conditions to get through and a little bit more snow in parts of Scotland but the trend is that the weekend is going to herald a change to milder conditions.”

He warned that there was still a chance of freezing rain on Sunday and said the Met Office may issue a warning for ice, which would bring “significant hazards”.

It comes after councils across England urged people to take “extra care” in the treacherous conditions and several were forced to briefly suspend waste collection services.

Conservative MP Jeremy Hunt, took part in a House of Commons debate wearing a sling, hours after breaking his arm whilst jogging.

The chairman of the Health and Social Care Committee told MPs he had spent the morning at the Royal Surrey County Hospital after slipping in the icy conditions.

The NHS said that, despite the tough conditions, many vaccination centres have remained open, and any missed appointments will be rescheduled.