UK weather: 31,000 people DIED of the cold last winter

The figures follow a bitterly cold start to the year with March being the coldest since 1962

The cold killed 31,000 people last winter - a rise of 29% compared with the previous year.

The majority of these deaths were among pensioners - with over-75s accounting for 25,600 winter-related deaths in 2012/13, according to the Office for National Statistics (ONS) said.

The figures follow a bitterly cold start to the year.

This March was the coldest since 1962, with an average monthly temperature of just 2.6C (36.7F).

"Winter 2012/13 was characterised by a milder than average December, followed by a prolonged period of lower than average temperatures," the ONS report states.

"The number of deaths peaked in the first week of January, which coincided with a peak in rates of influenza-like illness over the Christmas weeks. The mean number of daily deaths was higher than average for a prolonged period between February and April 2013."

The ONS said excess winter mortality for 2012/13 was highest in the North West of England and lowest in London - which bucks the trend of the previous year when the highest excess winter death rates were observed in the capital.

There were 18,000 winter-related female deaths, a rise from 13,610 the previous year. Meanwhile, the number of excess male deaths was 13,100 - a rise from 10,590 observed in 2011/12.

"In common with other countries, in England and Wales more people die in the winter than in the summer," the report adds.

"In 2012/13 19.6% more people died in the winter months compared with the non-winter months, up from 15.5% in 2011/12."