Northernlights

I see Kinloss is now at -11c for somewhere that is right at sea level and seldom has lying snow this is is quite unusual and we are approachintg 4 days of these low temperatures which for recent winters is not normal but perfectly normal for a nineteen sixties winter.

[attachment=74136:IMG_0477.JPG] Three more from today

Just a few pics of the area.Currently -11c, max today of -4c, and when these photos were taken about 3.00pm it was falling again to -6c. Asolutely beautiful very cold day, real Christmas card scenes. Seems to be just the Inner Moray Firth area that is getting this.

-9c currently and beautiful sunrise fog rolled in from the coast overnight again so trees are even more spectacular with hoar frost, will try and get some photos later Max of -3.3c yesterday at Kinloss right at sea level with the fog and coldest in UK yesterday, its just like a deep freeze up here currently and a watch has to be kept on all pipework for freezing, elctricity bills will be massive.Ground now iron hard.

Currently -7c here, backdoor toilet freezing up this pm, cold really getting dug in ( max daytime -4c again for the second day running) electric fence posts in turnip field frozen into the ground to a depth of 4" had to use a pick to shift them . Forests next to the Firth look completely white with hoar frost, absolutely stunning when sea fog rolls back and the sun shines on them. Don"t know what the future weather holds but winter is certainly here just now. Forecasts now catching up with temperatures we have experienced in the last 3 days as we have been a lot lower than they have been stating probably due to cold air falling down the side of the hills and ending up with us and no wind to mix it.

-8c here at 8.00am this morning now a superb winters day with blue skies and sunshine ,the hoar frost ( fog coming and going all night) making all the vegetation look as though it is covered in diamonds which are really sparkling in the sunshine.Ground is now rock hard and will need some time to thaw when it warms up but is a lovely base for snow in the future, nature is getting there everyone on here should have patience.

Currently -7c here ( max -4c during the day and icicles on every roof) and the farmhouse windows ( single glazed ) completely frozen over like winters of 40 years ago, bought 3 new wool jumpers already this winter to wear in the house .Drove to Aviemore to pick up my daughter from the train this evening and as I climbed up onto the moors the temperature rose to -2c but fell again to -7c in the hollow round Carrbridge. Today the cold is already stunning here and the soil is frozen to a depth of about 3" and ice is covering ponds and the edges of the rivers are begining to freeze. Its cold enough here now and we are just awaiting the arrival of the snow which will eventually come before it warms up!!!!!!

-7c currently, clear skies ,after some overnight fog left everything coated in hoar frost, outstandingly beautiful and a lovely frozen base for future snowfall.Snow would be the icing on the cake although travelling to Glasgow on a weekly basis down the A9 may become more interesting !!!!! and even accessing the alternitive the train up here may become difficult if the models verify and we get substantial snowfall. I predict these models will verify on a purely non scieintific basis as I am comitted to these travelling arrangements for the next 2 months so my forecast is that we are in for a very snowy January and February

Currently -6c here with a starry sky and the cattle in the steading comfy on deep straw, a real seasonal scene.

Just driven back from Glasgow and it was about 2c under cloudy skies all the way to Aviemore where the stars came out and the temperature fell to -7c , currently -2c at home.

Yes as a farmer it rules your life. For example getting the barley sown at the optimum time in the first 3 days of April weather window this year gave good yields and low nitrogens for malting and at the other end a harvest at the end of August and not the end of September when the weather may be poorer. We also avoided the bad weather in the middle of April which would have meant lower yields and higher nitrogens from sowing in late April when it finally dried up. This obviously had a positive outcome on our financial perfomance so having some idea from being on netweather where the weather is heading can be very helpful to me and so there are benefits from being a weather fanatic.

Great sunny, frosty ,dry,( no mud) start to the day -2c and no wind. A great improvement on the previous 24 hrs when it was very wet and the mud on the farm was as bad as ever. Two observations on how the continuing cold is impacting on nature, I flushed a woodcock feeding beside the farm steading at 10.00am yesterday normally a dusk and dawn feeder at the edge of woods and very shy and a huge flock of pigeons numbering in the region of 4000 descended on about 60 acres of stubbles behind the farmhouse probably including some visitors from Scandnavia, this also applies to the woodcock population.

Stunningly beautiful winters day here today with a covering of about 1 inch of snow, no wind, max of 0c after min of -4c last night. Blue skies and sunshine till late pm when high cloud from the west started to come in -are we going to see more snow tonight?. Hills round the Firth look resplendant in their winter snow cover. Its many years since it was so wintry in early December and we have now had 6 consecutive nights of frost.

Steady snow came in off the Firth about 20 mins ago adding to the overnight covering,currently -1c. Should get a couple of inches at this rate.

Max -1c today and the temperatures on the way down again so an ice day here .Has been mostly sunny all day with some snow showers out to the NE over the North Sea which do not seem to be moving much, a great winters day for working outside on the farm.

Ho Ho ho !!! Very sharp. Will remember that when I bed the cattle down with fresh straw later this morning Thank you!!!!

Currently -6c here so hardest frost of the year so far and a lovely sunrise, no mud on the farm today Yippee!!!!

Lovely winters day here no wind, sunny, 2c and very frosty in the shade. Hills all around the Firth are snow covered above 1200 feet from yesterdays showers and stand out against the blue sky. Puddles are refreezing as the sun moves round and they come into the shade.

A November day here as I remember them of 40 + years ago going shooting with my uncle on a Saturday afternoon with a covering of snow, a max of 1c(currenttly -1c) and light snow showers coming off the Firth on a moderate N wind. Icicles were forming from 3.00pm onwards on the edge of the roofs where the snow had been melting in the sun. We have had snow cover on two occasions this autumn so far, the last significant autumn cover being October 1993

Currently -1c here, fresh north wind ,flurries of snow and a covering of snow and hail about 1 inch from overnight showers.Further snow showers coming in from the north across the Firth.

Would I be right in thinking that the increase in thunderstorms up here( NE Scotland) outwith the normal summer months of July and August particularly at the end of April is down to a warming climate, more energy in the atmosphere and therefore more evaporation and more rainfall? This and lots of concrete and hard surfaces everywhere is leading to faster rainfall runoff into rivers and drainage systems that do not have the capacity to cope. The Moray Firth area was once reknowned for its dry climate ( never sowed grass on the farm without including cocksfoot due to its ability to withstand drought conditions which usually occured in late May and June nearly every year but rarely now) as it was in the rainshadow of mountains in the path of the prevailing SW winds. What seems to be happening today is more depressions passing over us on a path which gives us more northerly based winds from the sea and therfore no rainshadow effect. Also the old saying of rain before 7, fair before 11 seems out of date now as lots of rain areas seem to slow up or stall over us and do not get blown through quickly on SW winds but linger with winds from the north.

Not that rare but thunderstorms and torrential rain are more frequent up here than 40 years ago when thunder was restricted to July and August along with occasional downpours and not from the end of April to the middle of September as happens today. The evidence is in arable fields around me where you can see gully erosion in most years something which was pretty rare 40 years ago. Steady rainfall seems a thing of the past.

attachment=68255:IMG_0272_1.JPG] Feeling very autumnal last night down to 6c as this guy agrees as he got a warm dry mat to sit on at the backdoor with one of the farm cats, perhaps not the best place to hibernate Cool strong NE wind off the sea here today 13c drizzly in the morning but brighter now combines round about making progress again this afternoon.

I"m afraid I haven"t moved around a lot apart from going to Agri college so still living on the south of the Moray Firth at 100m asl midway between Inverness and Elgin on the farm my family have tenanted since 1868 with superb views to the north, west and south of surrounding mountains and North sea to the NE

Left for secondary school that day in a blizzard and buses were turned round when we got there after taking 20 mins to get there we took 2 hrs to get back up the hill to the farm road end in severe drifting snow. The farm road was filling in between two 4 feet stone walls and the snow was freezing to the side of our faces as we walked up it The max temp that day was -5c and the wind was very strong . There were several frosty sunny days after this with deep snow cover right to sea level a fantastic winter scene, with lots of sledging. Later that February the temp fell to -12c on the 18th. I still have the Atlantic Weather Map from my grandmothers Daily Telegraph of the 7th of February as even then I thought it was quite a significant snow storm. According to my diary drifts lay behind the north facing walls until the middle of March, winter had started in 1968 on the 16th October with the first significant snow on the hills round us and lay all day above 2000 feet. Wet snow also fell on Christmas day to give a covering which was topped up with dryer snow on Boxing day.