Summer solstice ...Scottish-style!
Forget hippies frolicking at a sunny Stonehenge, our midsummer sees storms gather – and snow
SCOTLAND kicked off the summer in typical fashion yesterday – with storm clouds gathering and a smattering of snow.
Rich Renton caught this dramatic picture of a menacing weather front rolling in as he drove beside the sea with two colleagues.
The lorry driver was looking out over the village of Burnmouth in Berwickshire when he spotted the wall of clouds just off the coast.
Mr Renton said: ‘I could see something coming over the land and got out of my truck and took a quick snap on my phone. It looked like the cloud was about to come over the land and the scenery was beautiful. It was brilliant.’
The start of summer also saw snow flurries on Ben Nevis and at Glencoe on the longest day while other parts of the country were bathed in glorious sunshine.
Iain Cameron, co-author of a book on snow, tweeted yesterday: ‘You can tell it’s Midsummer’s Day in Scotland by the fact that a sprinkling of fresh snow has fallen both at Glencoe and Ben Nevis.’
For the past few days Scotland’s weather has been dominated by a polar maritime air mass, which has resulted in a noticeable drop in temperatures after a recordbreaking sunny May.
Even last night forecasters were predicting overnight temperatures north of the Border as low as 37F (3C).
But the chilly spell looks to be over with the polar air mass likely to weaken as high pressure expected to dominate conditions for around a fortnight moves in.
Scotland is to enjoy another heatwave as high pressure draws hot air from Europe next week with the mercury predicted to soar as high as 79F (26C).
Met Office forecaster Bonnie Diamond said: ‘It is warming up from the weekend and for next week as high pressure drags up warmer air from the continent. Scotland is forecast up to 80F (27C) on Tuesday in Glasgow, and the mid to high 70s could be reached afterwards, with southern Scotland warmest.’
In Wiltshire, sun worshippers enjoyed a more traditional solstice dawn, cheering as a golden glow washed over Stonehenge. Kate Davies, director of Stonehenge for English Heritage, said: ‘It’s a great opportunity for friends and families to mark the longest day of the year, as people have done for thousands of years.’