FIRE AND ICE
Lack of rain sparks wildfires...as temperatures plunge to -7C in cold snap from Scandinavia
SCOTLAND experienced two extremes as the country was hit with fire and ice, thanks to the weather.
Islanders on Harris had to contend with wildfires sparked by a lack of rain before they and the rest of Scotland endured freezing temperatures.
Firefighters tackled blazes which spread across gorse on the island.
As the flames approached an overhead power line the mains supply for 21,000 people was temporarily switched off amid safety fears.
In the Mill Road area near Tarbert, homes were hosed down to protect them from the blaze and roads were closed.
A spokesman for the Scottish Fire and Rescue Service said there was no risk to human life and ‘all properties in the area had been made safe’.
The whole of Scotland was then plunged into low temperatures, while in Harris, smoke lingered in the freezing air.
Forecasters also warned the country will take a colder turn in the next few days, leading to fears of a return to conditions that chilled Scotland last week.
The icy weather has been swept in by cold air from Scandinavia which has halted spring and brought cold mornings.
Overnight temperatures are expected to drop below freezing for the rest of the week, although it will stay mostly dry with sunshine during the day. The Met Office said it was too early to accurately predict the weather for Easter weekend.
It warned that the blast of cold air could remain in place, while showers and unsettled weather are likely to arrive.
The Met Office said temperatures would fall below freezing each night this week and may drop as low as -6C on Saturday and Sunday night.
Scotland saw a low on Tuesday night of -6.8C in Braemar, Aberdeenshire, while Glasgow was fairly chilly at -1.2C.
But the cold temperatures lifted during the day yesterday, allowing Scots to bask in some of the sunniest weather in Britain. With the school holidays in full swing, thousands flocked to resorts on the Ayrshire coast, the sunniest and warmest part of the country.
Meanwhile, it was announced hay fever season has started three weeks early, thanks to the record warm winter. Sunny days caused trees to prematurely develop catkins and start releasing pollen earlier than usual.
Luke Miall of the Met Office said the bright conditions were powerful enough for sunburn. He added: ‘It might feel cold but we are now seeing UV levels reaching “moderate” in the south of Scotland. So people should consider the same level of protection against the sun as they would in late September.’
Aviemore in Inverness-shire leapt from being one of the coldest spots on Tuesday night to one of the warmest yesterday – from a low of -4.1C to 12C (53F) yesterday.