Arctic air may be causing record lows in the US but Bermuda almost reached the record January daily high yesterday, according to the Bermuda Weather Service.

James Dodgson, deputy director of the Bermuda Weather Service, said yesterday’s wet and windy weather was the result of an associated cold front, but the arctic air that has caused the low temperatures in the US has been kept away from the Island by a stalled cold front.

He explained that cold arctic air is usually held in the polar region by a jet stream travelling east to west, however occasionally kinks form in the stream, allowing the arctic air to spill further south.

It was such an event which has brought the US heavy snow and bitter cold in the last week and caused the cancellation of thousands of flights.

“An associated cold front that swept through the Northeast — the precursor to the cold in the Northeast US — has just moved through our area, giving us the recent downpour of rain,” Mr Dodgson said. “However the exceptionally cold air behind it is making very little headway into our area. This is due to the cold front stalling just to the south of our area. Essentially, the big kink in the jet stream is not dipping into our area, therefore not allowing the unusually cold temperatures to move into our area and affect us.

“Having said that, strong southwest winds ahead of the cold front allowed temperatures to almost reach the record daily high of 75F (23.9C) — it reached 74.8F (23.8C).”

Mr Dodgson added that with the cold front having passed over the Island, the weather is expected to be noticeably cooler today with temperatures of around 67F (19.4C), slightly below the early January average of 68F (20C).

Severe weather in the US and UK is affecting mail deliveries to and from those countries and Bermuda, the Bermuda Post Office has advised.