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Coldest day for 10 years: Britain braced for big freeze with mercury set to plunge to minus 20°C

A car is recovered by a farmer near Newent, Gloucestershire

The UK will be even colder than SIBERIA with a new icy weather front sweeping in

A car is recovered by a farmer near Newent, Gloucestershire

Britain is braced for the biggest freeze for 10 years today with temperatures plunging to minus 20°C – even colder than Siberia.

Hundreds of thousands of drivers faced treacherous conditions after snow froze and turned into the worst ice seen for two years.

It came as the country was gripped by travel chaos with flights grounded, roads closed and railways badly disrupted.

Experts believe the Arctic conditions could leave the country freezing for the next fortnight.

Weather Channel forecaster Leon Brown said: “We expect a two-week period, with sub-zero nights and days close to freezing It happens once in 10 years.”

Temperatures of between minus 15°C to minus 20°C were expected in the Midlands, mid Wales and Scottish Highlands.

The Met Office has issued a yellow weather warning for south east England, where 8cm of snow has been forecast today.

Eastern parts and the northeast of the country are also expected to be affected.

Flights to and from Heathrow Airport have been cut by 20 per cent after a further two to six centimetres of snow and low visibility was predicted.

More than 100 flights were cancelled yesterday. Fourteen football matches were postponed and race meetings at Ascot and Haydock were called off.

The RAC predicted 10,000 breakdowns today alone.

A woman, 26, died yesterday when her car skidded off an icy road in Headington, Oxfordshire.

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