The coldest start to December since...

Whilst many news outlets reported that the beginning of December in the UK was the coldest since 1976, the reality is slightly more subtle, and depends upon the definition of 'the start of December'.

Meteorologist Philip Eden reports that the 1st to the 7th, and the 1st to the 8th were the coldest since 1998; the 1st to the 9th was the coldest since 1980; the first to the 10th was the coldest since 1976; the 1st to the 11th was the coldest since 1981; and the 1st to the 12th, 13th, 14th and 15th were merely the coldest since 1991.

Philip Eden