Northernlights

I was at lectures in the Agri building in King Street Aberdeen on that day watching the snow come in off the North Sea. Back home they had to take all the cows and calves in and cream all their udders as the calves were drinking more frequently decause of the cold causing bleeding cracks on the udders to develop caused by the extreme cold About 2 weeks later we were baling hay in the 70s F and this was followed by a very dry warm summer and the earliest ever finish to harvest until 2003 so I went off to Orkney on 2nd of September for a few days to see friends from college and buy some store cattle to overwinter. It was an exceptional year!!!!!

Had our first strawberry from the garden yesterday on the last day of May and in time honoured tradition it was shared between the 4 of us. Our strawberries have no artficial protection and this is the earliest I have ever picked one. 40 years ago we never picked strawberries until the last days of June just as the school holidays were about to start and they lasted till the begining of August, now they are over by the middle of July. This is of course in the north of Scotland.

Drove back from Edinburgh this morning and stopped off at Caingorm ski area where at car park level it was 4c with fresh NE wind at midday and a shower was just clearing the tops leaving behind a fresh dusting of snow on the tops ( see photos ) 30 miles further north at home it was 10c wihh a moderate NE wind blue skies and scattered cumulus , a lovely spring day with superb visibilities.

Superb visibilites to day with some hefty showers to the west and north where the hills this morning had a fair cover of snow down to 2500 feet. Presently 10c here with fresh W wind bright sunshine and light rain and hail showers and still a dusting of snow on the tops. An April day in May!!!!

Cold here now this evening 5c, mod NW wind ,some very sharp showers this afternoon, must have fallen as snow on the mountains as there is still snow on the top Cairngorm webcam. Beautiful sky to the north this evening with large shower cumulus reflecting a range of colurs in the sunshine.Very clear air, excellent visibilities, can see the cliffs at Dunbeath on the north side of the Moray Firth ,this does not occur very often. In fact the sky is looking more wintry than it did for most of last winter but this is not unusual at this time of year up here in fact yesterday evening was similar also, perhaps another frost tonight.

Very windy here dust storms off newly planted potato fields, some rain overnight but this has been competely evaporatd by the strength of the wind this morning, unusual for May.

Yes the sunsets are truly amazing at this time of year as they seem to go on forever especially last nights.We are being spoilt with such clear skies for days on end. At midsummer you can see the trace of the sunset all night to the north before dawn at about 2.00 am from here looking north over the Moray Firth, a truly magical time of the year if it is not spoilt by cloud cover.

Outside strawberry plants in the garden are flowering now- fruiting only amonth away? As a child in the sixties if we got strawberries in the 1st week of July at the end of the summer term we thought we were doing well. I realise modern varities may have some effect on earliness but it is amazing all the same.

The rapid early leafing up of all the deciduous trees up here is the amazing result of April 2007"s weather Over the years I have kept old dated photos from springtime. Our horsechestnut is in full leaf and flowering something which did not happen till the end of May 40 years ago and our old ash tree is coming into leaf something which it never did till early June 40 years ago . It would retain green leaves until well into November then in spite of any frost but today seems to drop its leaves earlier perhaps trying to keep to the same length of time of leaf retention as in the past in the face of a warming climate and earlier spring growth and more droght prone summers as we live in a low rainfall area.

Lovely starlight night with a stunning moon, 2c now, so will probably have an air frost by morning ,the last late spring frost possibly? Max temp today 7c so switched all the heating back on again.

Nice drop of rain overnight crops really needing it , front clearing south, mod NW wind, 4c and falling, blue sky and some wintry showers to the north. feels very cold after the heat of last weekend.

Extremely windy here now, damaging gusts ,temperature has fallen from 10c at 7.00 pm to 6c at 10.00pm, humidity falling also , the cooling process has started !!!!!!!! Clear starry skies above.

Very windy here today ,would say the wind is up to stong to gale force this evening, missed the showers today so fields are drying rapidly, dust even blowing on the farm road this afternoon. Ground driest its been here since late September 2006. max 7c this afternoon. Wind getting worse now so its bound to end in rain as my former farm emplyee would have said in years gone by.

In the countryside here also so we have an amazing orange moon!!!!

Slight falls of snow overnight now 2" lying where previous falls have not thawed. 3 days of lying snow now. More large snow showers to the N E coming off the Moray Firth in a classic winter setup which funnels showers on a N E wind towards us on the south side of the Firth. Its -2c snow sparkling on trees, a great winter scene!!!!

Currently moderate snow shower, settling 1 inch 0c moderate N wind . Looks like there is more to come here on south side of the Moray Firth at 200 feet above sea level

Last week on Landword in Scotland they said they would show us pictures of a snowy winter the following week as it was such a long time since we had had one. A bit ironic if we suddenly get a snowy battleground this week. I think it is just pure coincidence if this snow event happens but it just goes to show the weather always has the last laugh !!!!!

Snowing on this side of the Moray Firth now dry sparkling flakes quite heavy, temp-0.5c and settling as it was frosty before it started!!!!

Very windy between 4 and 5pm this morning just a roaring noise, also very wet overnight, currently 2c and breezey, overcast ,occasional showers of sleet. High ground above 1000" very white.

AS 1. COFFEE 233. COFFEE 232. LADY PAKAL 3. KANE 1.

Curently just under 4oC here with moderate sleet falling, calm.

Since coming to live here in 1962 I have always seen wintry weather in March and April with numerous days of soft hail and snow showers, for instance late March early April 1968 where having sown half a field of barley before 4 inches of snow fell one evening 2 weeks later when the other half was finally sown after the snow had melted the first half was through the ground. We moved here from London and my mother always said Scottish springs were very cold and very late . This will have a lot to do with sea temperatures which will be approaching their lowest levels of the winter at this time so if we do get a northerly airstream it will invariably snow even if temperatures are quite high in any sunny intervels. Cold snowy weather is guranteed if I say in mid April we will put the cattle out in a weeks time !!!! What has really changed is the lack of any really hard air frost in November or December with grass continuing to grow and the leaves staying on the trees for longer, we have given up growing potatoes which break dormancey early and are sprouting in an ambient store before Xmas and can no longer be sold. 40 years ago we had to add more staw depth as the autumn progressed to protect them from increasingly harder frosts after lifting them in mid October We now grow one old variety which will not sprout till mid March.

Bright blue sky all day here, frost lay in the shade all day, no wind. A beautiful winters day, -1c now like last night , did the parsnips and sprouts a lot of good for tomorrows lunch, Merry Christmas to everyone!!

First proper frost of the year this morning -0.5C, ice on all the puddles and the fields a pleasure to walk over at 8.00am with the surface dry and crunchy. A big change from all the rain and mud of the past week!

Just been out for some shopping and noticed the yellow flowers of Broom and Whin bushes in the headlights ,daffodils on their way also here. In the past after a long spell of rain and cool winds it oftend turned suddenly dryer and colder and the ground froze very hard because it was so waterlogged between Xmas and New Year putting a stop to all ploughing on the farm , maybe the models are onto something. New Year has always had better chance of frost and snow here than Xmas so the bulbs will go into suspended animation if it happens.