Northernlights

Fantastic day and slowly drying up after frosty start at 0c. Was speaking to the local Machinery Ring and they are taking artic lorry loads of hay up from England to the west coast of Scotland. Must be really expensive once it gets here. If the model thread is correct tonight then more may follow this spring. The soil is going to take a long time to warm up and therefore grass growth is going to be very slow.The fields are certainly not green just now.

First oyster catcher calling over the fields this morning a sign of spring here but about two weeks later than normal,daffs still only about one inch above soil surface,crocus now out and snowdrops in full flower all running well behind the recent milder winters. Frosty this moning at 0c.

There was definitely one here today after shifting electric fence in neeps for cows with a kilo of mud attached to each welly and then working outside in mud /sunshine most of the day came in shattered. Fell asleep after tea and woke up more human according to family.

Busy day delivering and selling hay and neeps in bright sunshine .A real weather market has developed as many people are short of feed for sheep cattle and horses. Outwintered livestock even with good shelter from trees etc have consumed more feed to cope with the mud /wet /extreme cold.The mud is really bad today after the heavy sleet of yesterday. A frost tonight will be very welcome to help dry things up.. Currently clear and 1c If any of the above comes off there are going to be a lot of grumpy farmers.

While my interest in weather especially winter weather keeps my mind occupied the farmer in me is starting to get thoughtful !! What if we wait till well into April to sow or May to get cattle onto grass then lower yields and more expense feeding cattle looms. With regards to future generations when I am feeling fairly sanguine i think we humans have another 100 years on the planet but when I am really hacked off by weather conditions and a grumpy old farmer I think it may only be 50 years before food production in the temperate zone is compromised by weather conditions.

I think I have this said before but with a few chilly weeks in front of us I think it is worth repeating. Ever since I was kid in the sixties March has always been a winter month on the farm. as the last of the winter cold drains out of the arctic. Its nearly always the hungriest month for wildlife too. The incidence of north and east winds is at its highest in the spring and these are cold directions especially with sea temperatures at their lowest plus the extra cooling from last weeks "Beast".which I read online has reduced the temperature of the North Sea by 3c in just a few days . Thus the north of Scotland has always been known for its cold springs. My mother who was a Londoner always used to say "Spring doesn"t happen in Scotland summer arrives on the 1st of June". So far this spring is looking like its going to be on the cold side. Currently 1c and sleet.

Dreich this morning with heavy sleet and wet snow. Got all cattle fed and bedded with clean dry straw and have come back to house as windchill is pretty high with all the wet. Currently 1c and can see proper snow level about two miles to the south of me . This is turning into along winter.

Wet snow falling here too at 1c making everything on the surface very wet as ground still very frozen at depth.

3c here and raining still scars of snow next dykes and fences where small drifts formed so still a very barren wintry looking scene.Pigeons finishing off th winter rape next door to in spite of the flash bangs going off ,they just circle and land again until the next one goes off .They are not stupid a man with a gun much more effective. .

Y Yes ,Cairngorm if they can open the road as it was blocked all day today again are saying that upper runs will be closed off as avalanche risk is very high. They thought that Sunday would be much better with little wind instead there was strong wind and lots of drifting snow.The funicular tunnel mouth is buried again and will have to dug out by hand.Find it amusing that even on stilts it is subject to being blocked by snow but blown depths now must be approaching exceptional levels. On MWIS forecast they are saying that freezing level will be at the surface or 0m all this week except next to the sea and there is potential for more heavy snowfalls down to the surface after next week.

Still snowing at 0c .This photo shows what has fallen this evening as front garden was more or less bare of snow when it started earlier this afternoon. Looking at my local forecast on here in spite of some melt in the afternoons for the next fortnight every night has an air frost so remaining snow and drifts will set up like concrete every night. It will make the countryside look very wintry. for a few more weeks yet.

Been light snow all afternoon while we tidied apple tree prunings ,odd broken branches and washed two cars.Only settled on old snow as temperature up to 1c but now settling on bare areas at 0.5c with car begining to ice over.so its looking whiter now than at any time in the past few days

Not wishing to appear too sanctomonius( correct spelling?) but ordered 10 loaves for freezer 10 days ago. based on the forecasts on here along with an oil top up for the Rayburn Mrs Northernlights was grumbling about there being no space left in the freezer!!! but even she bought in extra tins of soup at the time.

Dull start to the day at -1c with bits of grauple in the wind. With our fairly thin snow cover bare patches are appearing quite quickly mostly sublimation leaving the ground surface dry and powdery. Hope this continues as its drying out the ground for sowing eventually.

A question for the experts. My local forecast still shows a slight frost on almost every night for the next two weeks and daytime values which still allow snow to fall whenever we have precipitation. This when I read that less cold air is on its way or will it never reach the north of Scotland properly? It really only backs my feeling that this cold has been so severe that it has cooled the ground/sea to great depth and completely thrown around the northern hemisphere weather patterns that a very cold spring could be on the way. Our daffodils are only half an inch through the ground and cannot be seen yet next to north facing dykes and the recent wind and severe frosts have really burnt off all the vegetation. Pigeons today in a f lock of thousands finished off a field of late sown winter oilseed rape next to us so losses are mounting.

Climbed to 1.5c today and snow softened and roofs started to drip but from 4.00pm the frost returned and everything crunched up and it is currently 0c Not so many showers this afternoon but odd flakes still falling this evening Cows made it out to neeps in field and you could see the smiles on their faces. Pruned apple trees in garden and trimmed back a holly bush so moving about kept me warm in spite of the fresh east wind. Thank you Hawsey for your kind words about us all

Well guess what we have had several snow showers this morning and another is is heading towards us from the SE over the forests a very unusual direction to see snow coming from.

Lazy flakes falling this morning from a cloudy sky and currently -1c. Young Mr Northernlights spent the day yesterday thawing out pipes for cattle and sheep water on another farm so the weather is starting to impact.

Can"t quite match Aurora Storms photos but even with a couple of inches it will blow into drifts. Dog had good fun bouncing over them. And if the sub zero wind runs out of snow it seems to start strippng the soil off the ploughing. Watching the line of showers creeping south across across the Firth. Photo shows Portmahomack area where even at sea level it has snowed and snowed and it just keeps going. In spite of this over the decades as the last cold spell of winter ends we always seem to catch the last heavy snow shower in the Firth after maybe several days of missing them to the east or west and I usually manage to get a photo of it as heads south over the Cairngorms. Still have time to get a heavy snow shower yet. Maximum of -0.5c so three ice days now two of them in March. Its certainly been a winter of cold weather photo opportunities.

The increased frequency of north and east winds is well known in the spring especially up here where it can make for a seven month winter on the farm and so this chart is maybe not so far off the mark.

It seems the snow is going to fade out as clouds have much less depth than the last two days. The story now is that on my local forecast we have a frost every night for almost the next two weeks and some snowfall opportunities so no sign of spring. On top of a late damp harvest with straw only being baled last week in some fields agriculture both arable and livestock is going to have a tough year if a cold spring develops. An observation from last night in Sainsburys in Nairn was that they had almost no fruit and veg and no bread so the effects of this severe cold spell have been felt in areas with hardly any snow. Currently -3c

Hairy Celt must be very near this line of showers coming in off the Firth tonight. Maybe he is buried! Stiil getting the odd shower from the east here too currently -3.5c

Just had the first snow shower since early am .The line of showers acrooss the Firth seems to moving south to us. Remember in the sixties and seventies when we often had periods of east winds one day the slow moving showers would hug the coast on our southern side of the Firth and the next day they would be along the coast at the northern side This would happen on alternate days until the east wind stopped sometimes for most of the month of February and so both sides of the Firth shared the snow. Currently -3.5c

Looks as though we may have a more north of east wind tomorrow so we catch up with the snowfall. Fine sunny day now but wind picking up and what little snow we have snow constantly drifting across fields. Currently -1.5c

Cold sunny start at -8c still -3c .House really cold this morning. A streamer to the north of the Firth has really given problems on the A9 in Caithness. A couple of photos of the streamer showers across the Firth to the north. Neeps frozen solid so cows will have to get silage instead today