Temperatures plummeted to a knee-knocking -3C across large parts of Britain on Sunday night – but it wasn’t quite the chilliest night of the autumn so far.
Forecasters had predicted the mercury could fall to -7C, a degree colder than the -6C recorded in Braemar, Aberdeenshire, on 6 November.
But winds proved to be a touch stronger than expected, meaning temperatures did not stoop so low, although they widely went below freezing and large parts of the country awoke to a widespread frost on Monday morning.
The morning also brought several centimetres of snow settling over the Scottish hills. Snow was also reported at low levels in a few inland spots in eastern Scotland. Rain is set to arrive in the north later on, though the rest of the country is set to stay cold and dry.
Daytime temperatures across the country will mostly hover between 5-7C throughout the week and are unlikely to reach double figures.
The coldest temperatures of -3C on Sunday night were felt across parts of Scotland, Gloucestershire and mid-Wales.
Met Office forecaster Simon Partridge said: “We’ve had three short cold snaps over the past three weekends but it will become less cold over the coming days, before another, more prolonged, cold spell into next weekend.”
A minimum temperature of -4.9C was recorded overnight at Benson in Oxfordshire, the Met Office said.