Scotland shines on as warmest in UK
… but our spring mini-heatwave is about to end
SCOTLAND once again basked in glorious spring sunshine yesterday, as temperatures remained well above average.
Much of the country enjoyed a third day of blue skies and warm air, with the mercury hitting 19C (66F) in the Highlands.
Scotland was the warmest part of the UK for the second day in a row, thanks to an area of high pressure.
The balmiest place, Aviemore, saw temperatures just one degree cooler than Sunday’s 20C (68F), which is the highest temperature reached in Britain so far this year.
But it had to be too good to last, and forecasters predict unsettled conditions from the Atlantic over the next few days will bring dark skies and outbursts of rain.
Heavy cloud which has been lingering in the North Sea will arrive on the east coast and much of the rest of the country today, with only the far west likely to retain clear skies.
Fronts associated with low pressure will begin to push into south west Scotland tonight, heralding heavy rainfall for tomorrow.
‘We’ve all been spoiled in the last few days with gorgeous spring weather,’ said Emma Sharples of the Met Office. ‘There’s barely been a cloud in the sky.
‘But the high pressure which has brought these conditions is slipping away, to be replaced by low pressure from the Atlantic. The one benefit we’ll see is that things remain quite mild during the week.
‘The air will be coming from the south, which should guarantee comfortable temperatures for this time of year. The fronts arriving in south west Scotland on Tuesday night will open the door for further low pressure to arrive at the end of the week.
‘By Friday, things will change from rain to showers, turning cooler.’
But she had encouraging news, saying: ‘Next Sunday, the first Sunday of April, already looks very promising.’
In the Cairngorms National Park, Grantown-on-Spey coffee shop owner Stephen Queen, 55, is usually flat out serving hungry customers fresh off the slopes at this time of year.
Yesterday he said: ‘Skiers are normally attracted by the good snow levels.
‘But I think all this fine weather has been melting the snow, which means the skiers don’t bother to come up.
‘Still, we’re enjoying fantastic sunshine right now. I just hope it’s not our summer.’
Throughout the country, thousands of sun worshippers flocked to beaches and parks to make the most of the sunshine.
In Glasgow, where the temperature reached 16C (61F) yesterday, sun-lovers could be seen sitting among the daffodils at lunchtime.
It is a remarkably different picture to spring of last year, when Britain was being battered by winds of more than 100mph.
Storm Katie, the 11th and final storm of the 2015/16 season, struck exactly one year ago today, closing roads and causing widespread travel chaos.
‘We’ve all been spoiled’