The lag between the shortest day and the coldest day of the year is caused by the seas around Britain
How cruel this winter is, blowing hot and cold at bewildering speed. And yet the days are growing noticeably lighter, with daylight increasing by more than three minutes a day — so surely the weather should be warming up as Britain is bathed in more solar energy?
“The cold grows stronger as the days grow longer,” runs an old saying, which has come true this winter. The shortest day of the year, December 21, was so mild that Swanage, Dorset, reached 10.9C (51.6F). But the coldest day so far this winter was January 16, when the temperature plunged to minus 13.1C