Party island Ibiza is covered in snow as temperatures in Spain tumble as low as -15C

Spanish party island Ibiza has been blanketed with snow as freezing weather swept across Spain, while temperatures in the UK plummeted to -8C.

Ibiza, famed for its sun-soaked holiday destinations and parties, saw its beaches covered in snow during the unusual cold snap.

Residents on the island built snowmen and wrote ‘Ibiza 2023’ on a frozen windscreen as they enjoyed the snowy weather. 

Temperatures in Spain reached as low as -15C in Catalonia as the country was blasted by the polar freeze currently sweeping across Europe.

Residents in Ibiza built a snowman as they enjoyed the usually frosty weather on the Spanish island

Ibiza, famed as a sun-soaked holiday destination, was blanketed with snow and ice 

The town of Sant Joan de Labritja in Ibiza dropped to -1.8C on Monday night, according to the Spanish meteorological office AEMET.

The weather agency issued yellow weather warnings for parts of Spain during the freezing temperatures.

Meanwhile in the UK, unusual weather ‘flipped the norm’ and left parts of northern Scotland enjoying warmer temperatures than the freezing southern England, the Met Office said.

An overnight low of -8.6C was recorded in Benson, Oxfordshire, on Monday, while Altnaharra in the Highlands reached a balmy 10.6C.

The UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) has extended a level 3 cold weather alert until 9am on Friday, and urged people to keep warm and check in on family and friends who may be more vulnerable.

It will be mostly cloudy across much of Scotland, northern England, Northern Ireland, north-west Wales and south-east England on Tuesday, with freezing fog clearing for some, but remaining cold in the South, the Met Office added.

Highs of 12C or 13C could be recorded in parts of north-east Scotland on Tuesday, compared with likely highs of 4C or 5C in the South of England, Mr Claydon said.

One resident wrote ‘Ibiza 2023’ in the snow on a windscreen after the island was hit by the cold snap

Beaches in Ibiza were covered in snow as temperatures in Spain reached as low as -15C

Wintry conditions have gripped parts of the UK, with this windmill coated with an icy glaze overnight

Wicken Fen in Cambridgeshire on a cold and foggy morning as the frost continued 

Flipped fortunes once again this Tuesday morning, with a large difference in temperature across the UK

The forecaster expects it to be cloudily across much of northern England and Scotland on Tuesday night, with rain over western hills and over parts of Scotland.

It said frosty conditions and freezing fog are likely further south.

It anticipates there will be more freezing fog over parts of southern England on Wednesday morning, with early cloud and rain over Scotland drifting southwards to reach southern England later that day.

Its provisional outlook for Thursday to Saturday forecasts that it will be ‘mostly dry through this period, away from western Scotland’, with ‘some frost and fog patches overnight into Thursday and Friday, but less so by Saturday’.

Met Office spokesman Oli Claydon said: ‘It’s relatively unusual – we obviously expect it to be the other way around, especially at this time of year, but, due to the position of high and low pressure around the UK, it’s flipped the norm.’

He said temperatures will ‘start to even out’ by Wednesday but there will still be a ‘little bit of disparity’ with it likely remaining a ‘bit colder in the south’.

But he expects ‘more uniformity’ by Thursday, with temperatures of about 7C or 8C expected ‘across the board’. 

The south and east of England has been below zero for several days – the north and west is exceptionally warm