TEMPERATURES plunged to the lowest of 2014 overnight giving Dorset and Hampshire residents a freezing start to the week.

See more pictures of this morning's sunrise in our December sunrise gallery 

Thick ice covered cars and the mercury is set to fall further tonight, according to forecasters.

Gritting is already under way across the county with major roads in the Dorset County Council area being treated from 2pm.

Bournemouth council said its gritters will also be out from 2.30pm this afternoon with the focus on main commuter roads.

Borough of Poole said it would be gritting main routes at 7.30pm this evening. 

Bournemouth weather enthusiast Jim Smith said temperatures fell to a frosty -4C at Hurn Airport overnight and to -1.9C at his home in Springbourne, where he operates a weather station.

Met Office forecasts predict it will get no warmer than 4C in Bournemouth today, between 1pm and 3pm. Temperatures are set to fall to -2C tonight, with just 5C predicted for tomorrow.

Daily Echo readers have reported some chilly conditions with one posting a picture of their phone, displaying -7C in Bournemouth just before 7.30 this morning.

Another said it is -6C in Sturminster Marshall and that a stream in the garden has frozen over.

But the New Year is likely to see a dramatic rise to 12C with soggy conditions by the end of the week.

In Northern Ireland, temperatures fell to -8.1C overnight, while parts of England dropped to -7.6C, and -5.6C was recorded in Wales, BBC Weather said. Scotland also saw falls to -6.7C.

The Met Office has warned of possible dangers to health and has issued a cold weather alert which will remain in place until midday on Wednesday for northern England and the Midlands.

The lowest temperature overnight was recorded at -8.1C in Katesbridge, County Down, beating Northern Ireland's previous 2014 low of -6.2C. A new 2014 low in England was also recorded, with temperatures plunging to -7.6C in Oxfordshire - colder than the -6.8C recorded earlier this month.

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