Big freeze to return
Another Arctic blast on way after battering from Eleanor
SCOTS are being told to brace themselves for yet another big chill as an Arctic blast will send temperatures plunging again with temperatures as low as -10C predicted.
Forecasters warned of widespread ice during a period of freezing weather that will last from this weekend to the middle of next week.
The worst hit areas will be rural Aberdeenshire and Aviemore in Inverness-shire as bitterly cold winds blowing from the north push down across the country tomorrow, sending the mercury plummeting.
Glasgow and Edinburgh are also expected to see temperatures dip as low as -5C, while many rural areas could see freezing conditions of -10C during Saturday night.
It follows a miserable start to the year for the thousands of commuters who were heading back to work yesterday as Storm Eleanor battered large parts of the country.
Coastal areas of Wigtownshire were hit by 77mph winds, driving rain and high seas, flooding roads and bringing down trees.
Routes in Drummore, Stranraer, Newton Stewart and Kirkcudbright were flooded as well as roads all along the Solway Firth.
The conditions saw Police Scotland declare a ‘major incident’ in the region early yesterday. Some residents were forced to use sandbags to protect their properties as they braced themselves for the deluge in the wake of 15 flood warnings issued by the Scottish Environment Protection Agency.
In Edinburgh, a road near Craigmillar Castle was closed because of flying debris from a damaged wall and a landslide caused by the downpours.
Flooding was also reported on roads in Upper Largo, Fife, and in Grangemouth, Stirlingshire.
South of the Border at least one person was feared to have been killed as the storm swept across the country.
A body was recovered from the sea near Splash Point in Seaford, East Sussex, yesterday morning and police are investigating the possibility that the person had been swept into the water.
In Christchurch, Dorset, two people had a lucky escape when a tree came crashing down onto the windscreen of their Ford Focus. The driver was later arrested for drug driving.
On the River Eden in Carlisle a pensioner used her dog lead to save a stranded woman from being dragged away in icy water.
And at Hayling Island, near Portsmouth, Hampshire, beach huts were ripped from their foundations and floated away in the flood waters.
Trees were felled in parts of London and a wind gust of 90mph was recorded at Orlock Head in Northern Ireland. Gales also reached 100mph in parts of the Lake District in Cumbria.
Last night Met Office forecaster Oli Claydon said: ‘After Eleanor, it’s back to cold conditions.
‘Saturday night into Sunday morning could well see the Mercury drop to -10C in parts of Scotland.
‘Even on Saturday, the temperature won’t get much higher than 2C or 3C (35F-37F) and with the wind chill factor, it will feel bitterly cold during the day.
‘You are likely to see these very cold temperatures until the middle of next week at least.’
He added: ‘The one benefit is that the days are likely to be bright and sunny.’
Tomorrow will see the last of the relatively mild conditions, with highs of 6C (42F) but the day will be overcast with persistent rainfall.
Forecaster Peter Sloss, of the Met Office, said: ‘There has been a lot of unsettled weather this month with Storm Dylan and Storm Eleanor but now there is going to be a change.
‘Scotland has so far been protected by high pressure but now that will slowly be replaced by low pressure from the Arctic which will combine with the wind on Friday for a blowy but cold night before replacing the storms completely.
‘Saturday is going to be the coldest night by far, it will be quite biting so people should wrap up warmly and be careful.’