It’s all white now as winter blasts back with return of snow and ice
WITH May fast approaching, summer had seemed just around the corner.
But a sudden plunge in temperatures saw parts of Scotland blanketed in snow yesterday – along with sleet, hail, overnight frost and icy conditions on the roads.
An Arctic air mass moving across the country brought a cold snap that will continue throughout the week, with more snow set to fall today.
After a run of sunshine and temperatures up to 70f (21c) last week – rivalling traditional Mediterranean hotspots – yesterday’s whiteout in the Highlands and the North-East came as something of a shock to the system.
Although the Central Belt and southern Scotland enjoyed sunny spells yesterday it was still unseasonably cool while, elsewhere, the snow caused some dangerous conditions on the roads.
A Met Office amber warning for much of the North and North-East to be aware of ice on road surfaces was in place until this morning.
It advised that ‘road temperatures will fall quickly below freezing in places, especially on higher routes’.
The warning added that as a result ‘ice is likely to form on untreated surfaces, especially where snow thaws and then refreezes’.
Yesterday afternoon, a woman was taken to Aberdeen Royal Infirmary with suspected head injuries following an accident on the A96 Aberdeen to Inverness road between Huntly and Insch, Aberdeenshire.
An air ambulance had been alerted to take her to hospital, but could not take off due to the wintry conditions.
A Police Scotland spokesman said: ‘There was a collision on the A96 before Huntly and it is near the crawler lane.
‘We were phoned by the fire and rescue service at 1.45pm. I think there were two people from different vehicles they were attending to. There was an inch of snow on the roads and it was icy.’
Officers covering Aberdeen, Aberdeenshire and Moray i ssued a statement which warned: ‘Motorists are advised that the A96 Huntly to Glens of Foudland road is currently affected by snow and care should be taken when driving.’
A Met Office forecaster said: ‘Most of the snow has been over the Highland region, moving in across the Grampians and into the North-East of the country.
‘The Hebrides have also seen most of the snow, with rain, sleet and hail falling elsewhere. After a cold night with widespread frost, there will be icy patches on Monday and it will be a cold day, with maximum temperatures of 8-10c (46-50f).
‘Monday will see some more snow, sleet and hail in the Central Belt and in southern Scotland from the afternoon into the evening, which could affect commuters on the way home from work in the evening rush hour.
‘There will be good sunshine in the morning with cloud coming in later, but it will be a cold day and it will be rather cold this week and changeable.
‘Further sleet and hail is likely, f alling as snow on higher ground, with sunshine in between.’
Looking f urther ahead, Weather Services International, the business division of the Weather Channel, predicted below-average temperatures for Scotland for May, June and July.
WSI, whose clients include the National Grid, British Airways and Shell, expects temperatures to average up to 1c below normal – a significant amount i n meteorological terms – across Scotland for the three months.
Forecaster Todd Crawford said: ‘ Below-normal temperatures are expected in the UK from May to July.
‘As we head into summer, we expect the pattern of mild high pressure to reverse to low pressure, with a generally cool summer expected.’
Colleague Leon Brown added: ‘Summer doesn’t look memorable. People might find some spells disappointing. We don’t expect any long heatwaves.’
For most of April, Scotland has basked in sunshine, with temperatures in many areas of around 70f (21.1c), almost 11c above the average for this time of the year.
Eastern Scotland enjoyed almost 100 hours of sunshine during the first half of the month.