‘It’s a lot scarier to face winter here’: Britain’s coldest village prepares for freezing weather

Braemar, at the foot of the Cairngorms, has seen temperatures drop to -27.2C. Photograph: Katherine Anne Rose/The Observer

On the first day of November in Braemar, Aberdeenshire, there is a bitter chill in the air and the temperature hovers around 6C. This is balmy autumn weather for the village, nestled at the foot of the Cairngorm mountains and holder of the unenviable title of Britain’s coldest place, having recorded record low temperatures of -27.2C twice in the past 40 years. Just last year, the village experienced Britain’s coldest night since 1995, when temperatures dropped to -23C in February.

Braemar’s temperatures are thought to reach such extremes because of its geography, with the encircling mountains essentially turning the village into a “bowl” in which cold air blows down from the mountaintops and becomes trapped. In the coming months, residents can expect temperatures in the -20s accompanied by heavy snowfall, ice and storms. But while people in Braemar are well prepared for the weather, little can shield them from energy prices surging here as across the country.