Benvironment

I don't know how they can live in there with the pendulum constantly swinging between ramping and backtracking. It's enough to give anyone grey hairs!

Had to work late in Bathgate this evening, so this was a nice surprise What was peculiar was how the road up to Beecraigs, just a couple of miles away and much higher in elevation, got progressively warmer, greener and wetter. Usually it's the other way around. No snow up on the hill, and heavy rain instead of heavy snow.

The scene in Perthshire this morning, on the Isla. The roads were horrendous!

No worries Yep, take everything with you and use whatever is appropriate at the time - we really need a nice cold settled spell to get some deep and even snow! But even when the snow is windblown, the depths in the glens and coires make snowshoes essential in my view. Facebook popped a reminder up on my feed today about what was happening four years ago. That big storm. One I'll never forget here in Fife - we had 10,000 trees brought down on the Falkland Estate alone! The side of the house fell off and we were without power for five days.

And in other news.....gawd what a shocker of a day. Hasn't stopped since this afternoon, with just a Tayside-shaped blob of precipitation over East Scotland.

More common than you might think - I know quite a few folk who use them, and indeed see others out on the hill when conditions are good. But you're right, there's not much online about it as a pursuit in Scotland. The focus is on the Alps, or North America. I wrote a piece for OE Mag just last month that gives a bit of an introductory overview to snowshoeing in Scotland....or at least my experience of it: http://www.oe-mag.co.uk/imag/oenovemberdecember2015/ - Page 40 - it's free to read online. Personally I love it. And there's nothing better than being able to head out straight from the front door in Fife in my snowshoes Although, that's not happened since March 2013 Also filmed this video blog in Jan last year - again, gives a bit of an intro to snowshoes etc - from a stunning day up in Glen Lochay: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ooRsl1SL2cU&list=PLvydz3vW9N6GX1q69Aaz7xxLlBwwAFstr&index=11

Maxed out at 1.9C here during the day but has climbed up to 2.7C now. It was properly cold driving to West Lothian this morning though, -4C down in Clacks. Lovely! Nice view from Cockleroy before work too, with the Ochils looking the part

Just seen a tweet saying Soutra's closed in both directions.

Temp fallen from 3C around 5pm to 1C now, rain turned to snow and now settling on cars and wood pile. Not making any impact on the wet ground yet.

Just to add to the folk reporting dramatic temp change yesterday - I made a trip from Beecraigs in the Bathgate Hills down to Livingston & back. 3C, cold and damp when I left, wearing thick clothes and a woolly hat, and when I got out the van at Deans it was 10C and balmy! The distance is a matter of a few miles. And then coming back up the hill, in the space of 200m I watched the van's thermometer drop from 10 to 4. It fell by half a degree every second, and then a minute later it was down to 2.5C. I've never seen a fall like that, not one so visibly apparent on the dashboard. I've felt changes as drastic when climbing out of an inversion layer on a hill, or walking into fog, but have never seen it fall so fast over such a short distance.

1.1C with wet snow falling. Sad to think it'll all be gone when I get home from work this evening

Still a very satisfying depth of snow up in the Lomonds, so I went up for another torchlit walk after work. Couldn't bear the thought that this might be the best snow event all winter and I didn't get out and enjoy it.....so grab a head torch and go! Such a beautiful evening.

0.6C here with just over 2 inches of frozen crispy snow on the ground. I was working over in West Lothian all day and it was agonising watching the Traffic Scotland cams, seeing Fife getting a pasting cos all we were getting was torrential rain. So the first thing I did when I got home this evening was head out for a stroll over the Lomonds. Can't beat a bit of night hiking

A few flakes of snow falling up here Only a few, mind.

The view from work today

Awwww, pretty

<stirs from slumber> <stretches> <rubs eyes> <yawns> Is it time to wake up?

Heavens! Reached a sultry high of 10.9C here today, which is the coolest July max since I started recording data in 2010. Next 'best' is 2012 at 11.6C. I don't mind admitting I'm enjoying this weather. No hayfever to speak of, no sun hat, no sweating while working There's a lady at work who is loving it too but I'm not sure many other folk out there are enjoying it! God awful flies this year, though. Flippin great big raisins trying to crawl in your ears.

I've only had two nights this year where the temperature hasn't fallen into single digits at night time. It's been comfortably cool And still no real hayfever when normally it would be six weeks of suffering by now. Nice breeze to keep the midges and clegs away, unusually dry underfoot, and not so hot that you can't climb hills without sweating buckets. All in all......I'm happy .....though I can see why many other people aren't

Lunch time piccie from up on Stob Ghabhar today. Definitely still winter above 600m or so.

No snow here, but cold at 0.7C.

Erm......

Typical. Decent snowfall at home just as I head north in search of decent snowfall Up in Caithness and Sutherland. As is often the case with southwest winds, this little corner of the north stays stubbornly dry...but we did get some last night and this afternoon to make the hills look the part. Up on Morven, the highest point in Caithness this afternoon: And the Ben Griams, northwest of Kinbrace just as light was fading this afternoon: Enjoy the snow down south!

Look set to record our first ice day here since 24th March 2013! Hit a high of -0.1C at 2am this morning

Another superb hill day today. This time in Glen Lochay. Started out very cloudy and murky but there was 90 minutes of blazing blue skies around midday, before the cloud came in from the west......and then cleared briefly before going murky again. One of those very rare days on Scottish hills where there's no wind whatsoever and all you can hear is your heart thumping