Snow’s a no-show on Nevis

Ben nevis is snow-free for the first time in more than a decade.

Remnants of winter can usually be seen year-round on the 4,412ft peak from nearby Fort William in inverness-shire.

But snow-watcher iain Cameron has disclosed on his Twitter feed that the last remnants – at around 3,700ft in a northeast facing spot – have melted.

This means that only three patches of snow remain in scotland, one on nearby 4,048ft Aonach Beag and two on 4,252ft Braeriach in the Cairngorms.

Mr Cameron, 44, a member of the Royal Meteorological society, said the lack of snowfall last winter was a factor.

He added: ‘The ambient temperature over the summer was not that much different than it has been before, but there’s no question the climate has changed. The length of time snow patches remain is a good barometer of the wider climate.

‘snow can fall on the top of Ben nevis on any day of the year. snow in July and August is not unheard of.’

For the remaining patches to cling on until the onset of winter, Mr Cameron, from stirling, said a cool, dry spell is required. But he added: ‘i believe all snow will be gone before mid- september.’

The last time Ben nevis’s snow disappeared was in 2006. The earliest in the year all of scotland’s snow has vanished was in August 2003.

Mr Cameron said the snow-watching work he has been doing since 2002 will not be fully appreciated for a century.

He added: ‘People will look back and see it’s a good indicator of the way our climate was changing.’