The small village of Copley, County Durham, is reportedly one of the snowiest in the country – but a local claims this has been “greatly exaggerated”.

The Met Office included the beautiful little village, with a population of around 400, on a list of the snowiest locations in the UK.

The weather agency says that snow falls in the area an average of 53 days a year, and was the highest entry for England on the list.

But Yvonne Wilkinson, who used to run a holiday lodge in the area and still lives there, told Express.co.uk the amount of snowfall in the area was “greatly exaggerated”.

She added: “I think we had the coldest day of the year, but we don’t get any more snow than anywhere else in the north of England.”

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Copley is located not far from Barnard Castle and is close to the North Penines area.

It has its own weather station, run by the Met Office and the Environment Agency.

It’s cold weather is partly due to its high elevation – with the Met Office recording its height above sea level as 253m.

It was listed as 5th on the weather agency’s list of snowiest places, with the first four found in Scotland and the North Sea.

Ken Cook, who runs the local weather station on behalf of the Met Office, told ChronicleLive: “Copley is the snowiest Met Office site in England on the number of days that snow is actually seen falling.

“Copley is also around 1,000ft above sea level which increases the chances of snow rather than rain during the colder months as temperatures are usually at least 2C lower than at sea level.

“It is also quite a distance, about 20 miles as the crow flies, from the warming influence of the North Sea which again makes it colder than many other areas in our region.

“It is also far enough east and separated by the high Pennines from the influence of the Atlantic to our west. Most snow-bearing winds come from north-west clockwise through to south-east and we are first in line!”

Express.co.uk has contacted the Met Office for comment.

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The full list of the snowiest places in the country, according to the Met Office, are as follows:

1. Cairngorms in the Grampian Mountains

2. Shetland Islands, the North Sea

3. Fair Isle, the North Sea

4. Orkney Islands, the North Sea

5. Copley, County Durham

6. Leadhills, South Lanarkshire

7. Widdybank Fell, the North Pennines

8. Eskdalemuir, Dumfries and Galloway

9. Kinbrace, Sutherland

10. Knockanrock, North West Highlands Geopark

The list also highlights the clear north-south divide in the UK when it comes to weather, something also recently evident as the south is set to bask in 26C weather this weekend, while northern reaches of the country face yellow weather warnings for rain.

The warning is in place from noon on Friday until late Saturday night for parts of Scotland.

The warning reads: “Rain will affect many parts of Scotland on Friday and Saturday, this will be heaviest and most persistent across western parts of the country highlighted by the warning area.”

However, it is a different story for the southernmost parts of the country.

This area of the UK will be basking in temperatures well into the 20C with London expected to hit between 24C and 26C.

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