Parts of the UK were colder than European ski resorts last night as temperatures matched their lowest levels so far this winter. The temperature in Benson, Oxfordshire, and Woodford, Greater Manchester, reached -18C, a degree lower than some manufacturers recommend for freezing food at home and 2C warmer than the south pole – although it is the height of summer in the southern hemisphere.

By comparison, the popular ski destinations of Davos, in Switzerland, and St Anton, in Austria, saw temperatures of -12C and -8C respectively.

A low of -18C was recorded earlier this winter – in Braemar, Aberdeenshire, on 29 December.

MeteoGroup, the weather division of the Press Association, is predicting it could get even colder, with the temperature in parts of Scotland expected to fall below -20C tonight. The lowest temperature in the UK last winter was -18C, in Aviemore, in the Cairngorms National Park.

The current freeze has some way to go before reaching the all-time British low of -27.2C, which has been recorded three times, all in Scotland – twice in Braemar, on 11 February 1895 and 10 January 1982, and in Altnaharra, in the Scottish Highlands on 30 December 1995. The lowest temperature recorded in England is -26.1C, in Newport, Shropshire, in 1982.

Mercury levels around the world last night included a low of -48C in Ilirnej, Siberia, and -41.7C in Roros, Norway.