Snowman helps herald first blast of wintry cold

Weather: Skicentresremainclosed

Parts of the north-east woke up to snowy scenes yesterday as forecasters predicted the whole of Scotland will be hit by a blast of winter this weekend.

There have been no weather warnings issued so far by the Met Office, but the highest regions of Aberdeenshire experienced snowfalls of between 10 and 13cm yesterday.

Met Office spokeswoman Emma Sharples said: “There were some snow fallings on the higher ground in parts of Aberdeenshire and the Highlands, but the rest of the week should see this all melt away.

“However, by the weekend, we will see some quite low temperatures again; around four or five degrees and there will be a return to wintry and blustery showers.

“There will be quite a bit of rain and sleet across the whole of the country.”

A number of skiers enjoyed some low-level action on the piste at the Lecht centre, but the chair- lifts remained closed yesterday and will continue to do so until more snowfall arrives.

Last night, the other ski centres all showed no signs of opening any runs or skilifts this week.

Aberdeen-based architect Andrew Brown de- cided not to risk the drive to work from Strathdon yesterday and instead helped his three-year-old daughter build a snowman in their garden.

He said: “We woke up to find around 13cm of snow outside, so I made the decision to work from home. We got a snowman.”

The Met Office is predicting a changeable and unsettled picture for the coming week, with a particularly wet and windy day across the UK on Thursday.

While the first snow of the season could raise hopes of a white Christmas this year, experts say it is too early to tell if that will materialise.

At the moment, Aberdeen is the favourite city to receive a dose of the white stuff on December 25.

“Wewokeup tofindaround 13cmofsnow outside”