...while it’s cold comfort in Scotland
More snow on the way today... but milder next week
SCOTS face a weekend of snow and fierce gales before temperatures finally rise above freezing.
Snow is forecast today for the East and West Coasts, while 80mph winds are expected for the Hebrides tomorrow.
But warmer air from the SouthWest will then lead to a rapid thaw, beginning on Monday.
Met Office chief meteorologist Neil Armstrong said: ‘For the past week, the UK has been in a very cold air mass with temperatures well below average. This will change through the weekend, as milder air moves in from the Atlantic and pushes that cold air mass out into the North Sea.
‘Where temperatures were close to freezing in many places last week, we could expect to see 11C or 12C next week.’
Images emerged yesterday of an official Met Office weather station which had become buried in snow at the Cairngorm Ski Centre near Aviemore, Inverness-shire.
Senior ranger Ruari Macdonald said: ‘It’s an incredible depth of snow that has accumulated around our weather box. In the 20-plus years of observing the weather here at Cairn Gorm, I can’t remember it being this deep.’ He added: ‘The snow depth was around 1.7metres (5.5ft), which looks like a new site record.’
Amid the freezing conditions, Sarah Campbell from Carbost, on
Skye, captured a stunning photograph of an almost straight-edged 6 sq ft section of thick ice on Glenbrittle Beach. She said: ‘I’ve lived here for 20 years and I’ve never seen anything like it.’
Temperatures dropped low enough in the South-West for the sea to freeze along the Solway Firth and at Sandyhills Bay.
The sea at the beach was completely frozen with huge lumps of ice floating out to sea. In some parts of the region the temperature was as low as -10C.
One local said: ‘It’s years since we had frost like this.’ In West Lothian, a man had to be rescued from a pond at Kinneil House, Bo’ness, after falling through ice while trying to reach his dog.
A yellow warning for snow is in place for the Northern Isles and far east coast until midday today. A similar alert for Glasgow and the West Coast is in force until midnight. The Met Office also warned
of ‘treacherous’ conditions on the roads due to freezing rain tonight.
The 24-hour Scotland-wide warning begins at 9pm today.
Tomorrow, winds gusting to 80mph are expected to cause travel disruption again on the West Coast and in the Hebrides.
Grahame Madge of the Met Office said: ‘Milder conditions will take charge for the next week or so. However, cool temperatures on the continent are never far away.’
While the freeze has caused problems for many, it meant two young Lanarkshire skaters could get in some much-needed training.
British figure skating champion Christie Shannon, 18, from East Kilbride, made use of frozen puddles near her home. She said: ‘It has been a glimmer of hope in these hard times.’
Lia Wilson, 12, from Wishaw, has been a part of the Great Britain Development Squad for two years.
She has been able to skate on a frozen pond. Her mother, Laura Wilson, 39, said: ‘Being back on the ice was just amazing for her.’