Easter? It’ll feel more like winter

WITH the daffodils in bloom and lambs gambolling in the fields, you might expect the Easter weekend to be idyllic.

But instead of basking in glorious sunshine, forecasters now seem more certain than ever that Scotland’s holiday weekend will be plagued by plunging temperatures, rain and snow showers.

The mercury could dip below freezing in the North, while the rest of the country is expected to be blighted by showers and cold northerly winds.

Met Office forecasters say a cold snap will kick in overnight tomorrow, with the North-East braced for ground frost and temperatures as low as -3C (26F).

Easter Monday could bring snow showers blowing in from Shetland to low-lying areas of Aberdeenshire and Angus.

Experts say ‘wintry elements’ have already arrived in the Grampians, where temperatures fell close to freezing this week. Many had hoped the weekend would be warmer than in recent years as Easter Sunday is falling later in April.

Experts also warned the recent warm weather could trigger the allergies of hay fever sufferers.

Around a quarter of Britain’s 18million hay fever sufferers are allergic to pollen from birch trees, which is normally released into the air from mid-April and reaches its peak in early May. Forecaster Mike Redding said: ‘Weather on the West Coast and Central Belt will start off brightly enough but temperatures will struggle to rise above 12C (53F).

‘Sunday will bring little in the way of improvement, with rain in the South-West of the country and later in the Central Belt.

‘The North-East will be a lot colder and higher areas could see snowfall all weekend. Temperatures could go down to below zero on Sunday night, while there is every possibility snow showers will blow down from Shetland to parts of Aberdeenshire and Angus.’

Bookmaker Ladbrokes slashed its odds to 2/1 from 5/1 that snowflakes fall anywhere in the UK over the Easter weekend.

A spokesman said: ‘It looks like Easter 2017 could be a letdown, and we’ve been left with little option but to cut the odds.’

Those travelling over the holiday weekend also face disruption on the railways and roads.

There will be no CrossCountry or Virgin East Coast services between Edinburgh and Glasgow Central.

ScotRail will be running bus replacement services, with many trains diverted.

Planned upgrades to the West Coast main line mean services between Lanarkshire and Glasgow Central will be disrupted until Tuesday, while trains between Glasgow Queen Street and Falkirk Grahamston will be off today.

A ScotRail Alliance spokesman said: ‘We always try to minimise disruption for customers over Easter with the need to carry out essential work on the railway. We ask everyone travelling with us to plan ahead and check their journey by referring to our website or using the ScotRail app.’

The M8 is set to carry substantial traffic on Monday as people return from their weekend trips.

Graham Cookson, head of research at Inrix, which provides internet services regarding traffic, said: ‘We expect significant delays over the Easter period due to a combination of factors, including the regular post-work peak, the school break, people travelling on holiday, railway engineering works and tube closures.

‘Consider alternative routes or avoid peak times. By checking live traffic data, drivers can ensure they reach their destinations in good time.’