White Christmas will be no dream this year

Arctic blast forecast, bringing festive snow to Scotland

DREAMS of a White Christmas could be realised this year with an Arctic blast bringing snow to Scotland on Christmas Day.

Yesterday Met Office forecasters warned many areas will fall victim to another polar maritime air mass, similar to several weeks ago.

But while most will escape sub-zero temperatures this time around, the mercury will still struggle to get above 4c (39f) over the main festive period.

Met Office spokesman Laura Young said: ‘This cooler air mass had been expected to move down from the north during the early part of the week, but the latest calculations suggest it will arrive late on Christmas Eve and remain over Christmas Day – and possibly Boxing Day.

‘There is a strong possibility of wintry showers on high ground and some of these could fall at lower levels as well – so, yes, there is every chance that quite a few areas of Scotland will get a White Christmas this year.’

The icy weather front is expected to sweep its way down from the North-West, crossing the Central Belt and affecting many parts of the South-East.

Forecasters said only a handful of areas across the country could expect to escape the wintry showers, although those f ortunate enough will still e ncounter c onsiderably c ool e r temperatures.

Shoppers and party-goers across the Central Belt yesterday encountered chilling winds and heavy bursts of rain.

Hailstones the size of marbles smashed a car window in the Western Isles and the freak storm caused damage to windows and garage roofs in the

‘Hailstones broke the back window’

north of Lewis late on Thursday night. Resident Shona Findlay told how she discovered the hole in the rear window of her Ford Focus parked outside her home in Habost in Ness, Lewis.

She said: ‘I couldn’t believe it. My first reaction was the wind threw something into the screen. But after checking, it was definitely hailstones which broke the back window.’

The Atlantic storm with thunder and lightning lasted only five minutes but ferocious gale-force winds battered the Western Isles, resulting in all ferry services being cancelled due to rough seas.