Snow and ice warnings across the region will remain active until well into Friday, the Met Office has announced.
It has extended the duration of its existing warning, which had been due to end at 11.59pm on Thursday. It will now remain in place until at least 10am on Friday following heavy snowfalls and widespread disruption earlier today.
The area affected by the alert remains the same, with it covering all areas of Scotland north of Arisaig and the Small Isles in the west, and Stonehaven in southern Aberdeenshire in the east.
A Met Office spokesperson said: “Sleet and snow showers will continue for the rest of Thursday, dying out by across north-west Scotland overnight but persisting across north-east Scotland until Friday morning.
“Further accumulations of one to four centimetres are expected to low levels away from coasts with five to 10 cm possible above 150 metres. Where any modest daytime thaw has occurred, icy stretches are likely on untreated surfaces.”
Snow on Banks Road in Watten on January 9. Picture: DGS
The warning comes after temperatures in Scotland fell to -12.4°C at Tulloch Bridge in Inverness-shire last night. This was not quite as low as Scotland’s winter low of -13.3°C recorded on the early hours of Monday, but both are expected to be shattered overnight into Friday.
The Met Office is predicting temperatures to fall as low as -16C and some of its forecasters have said that -20C may even be possible over some snowfields.
This will be followed by a thaw over the weekend before much milder temperatures and settled weather take charge next week.
Chief Meteorologist Paul Gundersen, said, “Another very cold night is expected tonight with temperatures dipping as low as -16°C where we have lying snow in Scotland and northern England. Temperatures will also be well below freezing across much of the UK so there is a continued risk of ice overnight and through Friday morning’s rush hour.
Tain’s High Street covered in snow at around 7am on Thursday morning. It followed heavy showers overnight.
“Milder air will attempt to move into the UK from the southwest on Friday morning, heralding the end of this impactful cold spell. Increasing cloud and light rain, perhaps preceded by a little snow, will begin to affect northwestern then northern parts of the UK through the weekend. Here, temperatures will be back to around average by Sunday, and on Monday it’ll be much milder, with temperatures reaching double digits in Northern Ireland, northern England and Scotland.”
As a reader, we know the value you place on trusted local journalism. At The Northern Scot we are committed to delivering the very best coverage from communities right across our area, and we can only do this with the support of our readers. By becoming a subscriber you not only support us in this mission, you also unlock a whole host of benefits, including unlimited access to our website and digital editions of all our weekly newspapers. You can find out more about subscriptions here.
Use the promo code PHILIPMURRAY to get a year of unlimited digital access for just £10 – we really appreciate your support. Thank you.