THE BIG freeze that hit Dorset last month saw the coldest December temperature ever recorded in Weymouth.

And in Dorchester the mercury reached its lowest-ever point on Boxing Day.

December was the coldest on Weymouth’s monthly records with minimum temperatures at -0.3°C, 0.1°C lower than 1950.

The month returned a mean temperature of 2.5°C, while December 1933, the coldest on Weymouth’s record books until now, also returned a mean temperature of 2.5°C.

The average maximum temperature for December 2010 was 4C below average at 5.3°C and the average minimum temperature was 4.9°C below normal at -0.4°C.

The average sea temperature was 2.7C below average at 7.1°C.

Weymouth weatherman Bob Poots said he walked 13 miles from his home to the weather station and back after heavy snowfall in the borough on December 1 caused transport disruption.

Mr Poots said: “The last time the previous observer was snow-bound was three days at the end of 1978 and start of 1979.

“Snow returned with vengeance on December 17 and 18 and remained for several days.”

Dorchester weatherman John Oliver said the county town experienced the lowest temperatures in personal records going back 50 years and possibly since 1890.

The coldest temperature recorded in December had been -9.6°C back in 1981, which was surpassed on the night of December 19 this year when the mercury plummeted to -10.2°C.

Mr Oliver said: “This new record was to stand for only a week, before a 50-year all time record low for any month was registered at -12.4°C on Boxing Day morning.”

He added: “Day temperatures were exceptionally low for much of the time up to and including Christmas. It’s severity made more remarkable by its earliness in the season.

“On seven days the temperature failed to climb to zero Celsius, the coldest day being Christmas Day at -1.0°C.”

The average day temperature was 3.1°C, while the average night temperature was just -2.3°C – meaning both were nearly 6°C below the December average. Milder weather did creep in towards the end of the month as day temperatures reached 9.4°C on December 28.

Mr Oliver said snow lay on the ground on Christmas morning for the first time since 1993 and for a total of 15 days in the month.

A total of 28cm of snow blanketed Dorchester through four separate snowfalls, the most to fall in a single month since February 1978.

Frost was recorded on 22 nights of the month, while rain or snow fell on ten days.

In Weymouth, ground temperatures were below zero on all days throughout December, except the 11, 28, 29, 30 and 31 and minimum air temperatures were below zero on 18 days of the month.

Hail was recorded on December 18 and winds were light with few gusts reaching 24 mph.

Sunshine during the first half of the month almost reached the monthly average, which was achieved on the 18. Thereafter, except for Christmas Eve and Christmas Day, sunshine was scarce. The total sunshine for 2010 was 2,037 hours and six minutes, 268 hours and 42 minutes above the 30 year average of 1,768 hours and 24 minutes.