As Caithness experiences a steady thaw after the freezing temperatures of the weekend, a local weather pundit has shared a detailed overview.
Keith Banks, who contributes a monthly weather column, says that “the mercury has surged into positive double figures Celsius across Caithness” and adjacent areas after the harshest spell of wintry weather.
Snowy scene at Wick harbour. Picture: Alan Hendry
He said: “In Wick, the advent of a broad southwesterly airflow, sourcing very mild subtropical air from the Azores region, had lifted the temperature in the town to a spring-like 11.2C (52.2F) by 9am on Monday. The average maximum temperature for the town in January is 6.4C (43.5F).
“By contrast, Wick experienced its lowest air temperature since March 8, 2023, on Friday night, when the mercury bottomed out at a penetrating minus 7.3C (18.9F). On March 8, 2023 minus 8.7C (16.3F) was recorded in the town.”
He says that Wick’s lowest temperature on record is minus 13.9C (7.0F) recorded on February 11, 1934.
A very frozen Wick riverside. Picture: Alan Hendry
“However, on Friday night, under clear skies coupled with negligible winds, many inland locations, particularly sheltered straths in the county, would have witnessed temperatures as low as minus 10C (14.0F), and possibly even a degree or two lower.
“During Friday, in Wick temperatures were below freezing point all day, peaking albeit only very briefly, at just 0.1C (32.2F).
“For the remainder of the working week the southwesterly winds will continue to feed in very mild air from off the subtropical regions of the Atlantic. Temperatures in Caithness will remain well above the seasonal average, with highs of 12C (53.6F), possible in favoured eastern parts.”
A wintry scene at Wick’s Pilot House. Picture: Alan Hendry