KIEV, Jan. 18 – Cold weather and a new polling technique may have led to an error in an exit poll that had benefited Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko over opposition leader Viktor Yanukovych, pollsters said Monday.

Three out of four exit polls conducted on Sunday showed that Yanukovych was ahead of Tymoshenko with a nine to 11 percentage point lead, a gap that is believed to be enough to secure his comfortable victory in the runoff.