READING has seen some of its coldest AND sunniest days since records began this week.

According to Stephen Burt, from the Department of Meteorolgy at the University of Reading, Thursday, March 1 was the coldest March day since records began in 1901.

At midday on Thursday, the temperature stood at just -3.5 °C, but the north-easterly windchill made conditions feel more like -10 °C to -12 °C.

On Wednesday morning, the air temperature fell to -7.6 °C, making it the coldest morning for six years, and the lowest temperature so late in the winter since 1947.

One thermometer just above the snow surface fell to -15.2 °C on Wednesday morning, the lowest ground temperature for over 30 years

But by contrast, Sunday, February 25 was the sunniest February day on record since those records began in 1956, with 9.6 hours of unrboken sunshine.

Mr Burt said: "This helped push February’s sunshine total up to 123 hours, our second-sunniest February on record, and a total which actually surpasses some recent summer months – June 2016, for example, which managed just 116 hours despite much longer days."