The village of Braemar in Scotland has the infamous title of being ‘the coldest place in England’. Last February, for example, the temperature there once dropped to 23 degrees below freezing at night. This year too, residents had to reckon with icy winters.

Braemar is known as the coldest place in England, partly due to a record low of -27.2 degrees, which has been measured there twice in the last forty years. The temperature in the village is often very low because Braemar is nestled between the mountains, so the cold air blown from the mountain peaks stays in the valley. Come winter, residents should expect another -20 degree temperature, as well as heavy snowfall and ice formation.

Get ready for cold winter

The people of Braemar are now preparing for a new, frosty winter. “Here you wake up in the morning with ice on the inside of the windows. And it’s only light outside between 9am and 3pm,” says Hazel Williams. “You also have to turn on the lights and warm your house. Winter is much scarier in the foothills of Braemar than it is in, say, London.”

Fear of high energy prices

Due to rising energy prices, it will also be a financially difficult winter for the residents of Braemar. “I think a lot of people are very uptight,” says butcher Gareth Johnston. “I’m afraid, we’ve turned on the heater a month later than usual and I don’t even dare to turn it on at peak time. But you have to do it, you can’t freeze to death either.”

Read also: cool autumn weather causes gas prices to fall

Dave Evans, owner of a local brewery, is also feeling the effects of the cold weather and rising energy prices. “My bill has increased fivefold, from £450 to over £2,000,” he said. “I also have to raise prices. People will have a hard time this winter, some are already struggling with it.”

Check the Netherlands energy weather forecast for November here!