Forecasters predict parts of the UK could be colder than the Arctic - just days after Britain celebrated the warmest Halloween on record
Bonfire Night is set to be the coldest night of the year with temperatures of -8C - just days after the UK celebrated the warmest ever Halloween.
Forecasters say Britain could be as cold as the Arctic with revellers set to enjoy fireworks displays and bonfires on the coldest night for 19 months.
Widespread frost is expected as gritting lorries salt roads for the first time this winter. It comes just days after record 23.6C Halloween temperatures.
The Met Office today said the lowest temperatures could be in parts of Scotland - with -8C expected in some areas.
Leon Brown, meteorologist at The Weather Channel, said: "It still looks like we are due a widespread frost for Bonfire night, with clearing skies and light winds – for those planning a bonfire expect temperatures to plummet during the evening.
"It will be not far from 0C by 10pm in the Midlands and Wales, and below zero by mid-evening over northern England and central Scotland.
"The coldest places will likely be the eastern Highlands with -5C to -6C likely, but temperatures could dip to -4C or -5C in frost hollows in east Wales to central and southern England too, making it the coldest night so far this autumn. "
If the predictions are correct, it would make Bonfire Night the coldest in Britain since modern daily temperature records began in 1999.
The coldest night of last winter was -7.7C at Altnaharra, Sutherland, on February 17.
It means Bonfire Night could be the coldest night since April 2, 2012, when -11.2C was recorded at Braemar.
Britain will be colder than Hammerfest, Norway, the world’s most northerly city, 300 miles north of the Arctic Circle, which expects only -5C.
But it will be all change on Thursday with forecasters predicting wind and rain spreading from the west.
Much of the UK will catch 15 to 25mm of rainfall overnight to Friday morning.
