Beast from the Easter… Scotland wakes up to snow as temperatures plummet
Residents across Scotland woke up to snow on Easter Monday as temperatures dropped to -7C in parts of the country.
After a balmy Good Friday and Saturday, temperatures fell dramatically on Sunday night, leading to snowfall across the north of Scotland and the Shetland Isles.
A family in Inverness were seen making the most of the wintry weather by building a snow bunny.
Mum-of-three-kate-macleod, 37, said: "It was lovely initially and became a blizzard, snowing heavy, thick and fast. It's freezing in the wind. The bunny is a small one, so only took a few minutes to make.
"We were out in PJS first thing as excited in the snow at breakfast time.”
Winds up to 70mph have also hit parts of the country during the cold snap. Dog walker John Moncrieff, 48, shared a picture of his two Jack Russell terriers, Lottie and Flow, nearly being blown away in 60mph winds during a snowy walk in their home village of Boddam on the Shetland Isles.
The father-of-two said the dogs seemed intrigued by the snow at first but were keen to get home when the conditions worsened.
Snow and high wind warnings are in place for northern Scotland until this morning, with as much as 15cm of snow expected to fall in the country’s higher areas.
Met Office forecaster Simon Partridge explained that a change of wind direction brought a change in the atmosphere, leading to the chilly weather.
He said: “The air we had on Sunday came in from the south, so it was pretty mild having come off the continent.
“Overnight we saw a cold front moving southward across the country, and it pushed its way southward overnight.
“That introduced much, much colder air across the whole country.”
The extreme weather has led to severe travel disruption in parts of Scotland. Scotrail services between Aberdeen and Edinburgh were delayed and faced cancellation due to a tree falling down and blocking the railway between Montrose and Aberdeen.
A police car also crashed in Aberdeenshire as the icy conditions gripped the country’s northern regions. The patrol vehicle left the road while travelling along the A947, north of Fyvie, at about 9.30am yesterday.
No injuries were reported in the incident, but the road was blocked for about an hour as emergency services arranged for the vehicle to be recovered.
Bear Scotland, which manages and maintains roads in the north east, said 24 gritters and five tractors were out last night making sure trunk roads were clear as snow continued to fall across the Grampian region.
While the snow warning is set to finish this morning, the arctic winds are expected to continue into the week.
Most of the country will be at risk of snow or hail today as temperatures struggle to rise above 9C, even in the south of England.