Balmy Britain!
Incredible 36C jump in temperature in just 10 days brings spring-like weather...but it won’t last long
WARM air from the Spanish islands sparked spring-like conditions in Scotland yesterday, as families packed out parks and beaches.
It completed a remarkable 36C turnaround in the country’s weather in the space of only ten days.
What weathermen called an ‘incredible’ low of -23C (9F) was recorded in Braemar, Aberdeenshire, on February 11.
But yesterday Edinburgh enjoyed a balmy 13C (55F) – a temperature more typical of the first week of May – while in parts of England, the mercury rose to almost 16C (61F).
In Ballater, Aberdeenshire, however, melting snow and heavy rain on Saturday caused flooding said to be the worst since Storm Frank in December 2015.
Chairman of Ballater Community Council, James Anderson, 38, said: ‘Houses were evacuated as a precautionary measure. We were putting out sandbags on Saturday night from around 9pm... there is a lot of community spirit.’
Landslips on the A83 at the Rest and Be Thankful, Argyll, saw 700 tons of mud and 250 tons of silt and debris hit the Old Military Road.
Flooding shut several roads in central Scotland, including the A821 near Brig o’ Turk, Stirlingshire, and the A81 at Aberfoyle, Perthshire. Forecasters have warned of more deluges across much of Scotland from tonight until Wednesday. The Scottish Environment Protection Agency has six flood alerts and 37 flood warnings in place. Up to five inches of rain could fall over 42 hours in Central, Tayside and Fife, the South-West, Lothian and Borders and western Strathclyde. It is feared some communities could become cut off by floods and power cuts are possible.
Greg Dewhurst of the Met Office said: ‘The turnaround in Scotland’s weather this month has been incredible. It’s all down to winds coming up from the Canary Isles.
‘A temperature of 13C is almost double the average for Scotland in February and something you would usually see at the beginning of May.’ But Mr Dewhurst said things would ‘slowly change’ as a low pressure system ushers in heavy rain.
‘This month has been incredible’