The bone-chilling blast of winter weather felt by island residents over the weekend was accompanied by the lowest the mercury has dropped in more than a decade.

According to the Bermuda Weather Service, the temperature fell as low as 47.7F at 9.30pm on Sunday, the coldest temperature recorded locally on March 5.

The last time the island recorded such a low temperature was on February 27, 2006, when it dropped to 47.1F.

That figure is still some way short of the official annual low record of 43.3F recorded on February 26, 1993.

James Dodgson, deputy director of the Weather Service, said cold north-to-northwesterly outbreaks are often accompanied by blustery showers, some of which can produce small hail, as was the case on Sunday.

The previous low of 52F on March 5, was recorded in 1978, Mr Dodgson said. A comparison with other temperatures around the world on Sunday shows Bermuda was more in line with some traditionally chilly European cities than its friends in the Caribbean.

The coldest point reached in London, England was 41F, while Edinburgh, Scotland dropped to 32F, and Reykjavik in Iceland to 30F. Trinidad and Tobago, on the other hand, boasted temperatures of 88F, dipping no lower than 73F throughout the course of the day.

North American cities such as Toronto and New York did not fare so well, experiencing low points of 19F and 14F respectively.