Blizzardo

Any predictions for coldest temps tonight? I'd go for -19c for Tulloch Bridge tonight with Aviemore breaking the -20c tomorrow night.

I noticed that its being recorded as heavy snow at Inverness Airport on XC. I take it you are lower than the airport and closer to the coast?

Thats a lot of snow developing over the north of the country. With the really cold uppers flowing over still relatively warm waters its a bit like the lake effect snow you see around the Great Lakes. Its being pushed in on quite a strong North Easterly wind. Normally I'd say there would be little chance of any of it reaching Central/Southern Scotland and would get eaten up by the mountains but it doesnt seem to breaking up much and theres plenty more behind it. Its on a path down the A9. Might be worth a watch!

There are thin patches of ice starting to form on the River Clyde right down to the city centre! For anyone who knows Glasgow I noticed it from Glasgow Harbour down to the Jamaica Bridge.

Temperature only up to a maximum of -3c in Glasgow and around 1c lower on the outskirts. In terms of the snow chances for Glasgow and surrounding areas later today I'd say that anything that falls out the sky should be snow. Upper air is cold enough, 850 temps should be around -7 and surface cold is (very cold) especially where there is good snowcover. As the front approaches West Central Scotland the wind, light though it will be, should veer more westerly which should hopefully draw in a few showers. It probably wont result in heavy snow but a few moderate showers could hopefully give a couple of centimetres. As always with the weather coming from the north it could be a bit hit and miss as others have mentioned. Further ahead in the week it looks like low temperatures could be interesting for some. Under clear, still conditions, I dont think that -14c or -15c is out of the question for Glasgow. Probably no record but getting close.

I'd say that that there are decent chances for your area tomorrow evening/night according to latest Meto fax/GFS. Worth watching.

Heavy snow falling in Bishopbriggs gving a fresh covering. May not last long but nice to see all the same.

Light snow in Bishopbriggs for the last 10 minutes. Getting a bit heavier now.

Happy New Year everyone!! I'd expect Met Office warnings to change as we go through the night with the area of warning extended. Snowfall over the next 24-36 hours looks much more widespread and as others have said when the initial front clears its pulling in some really cold air behind with different bands of showers so snow could pop up almost anywhere.

After a rather uneventful day around the Glasgow area weather wise I'd expect to see the temperature dropping quite quickly over the next few hours. I like the look of the current GFS thats rolling out just now with a decent chance of snow for many Friday into Saturday.

Looking at the satellite pics looks like theres loads of heavy showers to come!!

The 6-15 day Met Office forecast looks good for snow for Scotland. I always love the term 'prolonged snow at times'. UK Outlook for Monday 4 Jan 2010 to Wednesday 13 Jan 2010: Many central and southern parts of England and Wales should enjoy a good deal of mostly dry and bright, but very cold weather throughout the period. Elsewhere, sleet and snow showers are likely to affect many northern and eastern parts with periods of more prolonged snow at times, particularly over parts of Scotland. Some very cold nights are expected with locally severe frost and ice on untreated surfaces. There is also a risk of overnight freezing fog across inland parts which may be slow to clear. Towards the end of the period it may turn a little less cold across parts of southwest England, but still with a risk of rain, sleet or snow at times. Updated: 1202 on Wed 30 Dec 2009

I think that in general that all the models are trending towards an even colder spell of weather. In terms of the 06z GFS this morning I'd say it looks not quite as cold but with more snow around especially for Scotland. Its basically an option that could more easily go wrong with more areas especially down south seeing rain or sleet instead of snow. Thus there will be loads of debate and arguing on the model thread this morning as some dont like what they see. Personally I dont really take too much notice of the 06z or the 18z GFS as I find them a bit erratic in their output and usually rely more on the 0z and the 12z GFS, ECM and the Meto faxes all of which, at the moment, are pointing to a cold spell and maybe even much colder weather after New Year than we've had so far this winter. In terms of how much snow we'll get and where, its probably too early to say just yet. I like the GFS ensembles 850 temperature ensembles for my area with the mean gradually dropping over the last 3-4 days.

I think that the showers gathering in the North Sea are worth watching for areas from around Dundee down to Edinburgh and later across the central belt. With the strengthening wind they could be blown inland. Its getting a bit marginal on the coasts but should be okay for most to be of snow.

I do think that overnight cloud cover is making a big difference to the temperature and when its clearing with the snow cover in place the temperatures are plummeting. Obviously the sun is at its lowest at this time of year so its only really a factor in raising temperatures between about 11am and around 2pm and even then its really low in the sky in a location like Altnaharra. One of the of the other effects is the wind direction. For my own location the best direction, North East of Glasgow is a light northerly due to the mountains to the north sheltering us but the upper air remaining cold. PS down to -16.5c now in Altnaharra.

Big temperature drop at Altnaharra. -2.6c at 5am and now at -14.7c.

Very cold New Year morning on the 06 GFS

Thats Scotlands 'mild' spell almost at an end. Our mild spell consisted of daytime maximums of -4c and night time minimums of -10c to -14c in many northern mainland areas and even central and southern areas stuggled to get above freezing in the last couple of days. I noticed the milder air was slowly pushing north last night and there were marginal snowfall situations in many parts. I was driving up from Prestwick and there was some really heavy rain over Fenwick but when I got back to Bishopbriggs this had turned to heavy snow although it was always on the edge of turning back to rain. I hear that Perth has had some really heavy snow overnight. There is a lot of model uncertainty over the next few days but what seems clear is that colder air will begin to extent further south over the next 24-48 hours. With cold upper air and still cold surface cold this should keep any marginal snowfall situations in Scotland on the right side for snow. Whats also clear is that there is going to be a bit of a battle over the next 3-4 days between milder fronts pushing up from the south west and the cold air thats extending down from the north. Its looking at the moment like Northern England, Wales and parts of Ireland may see some heavy snow during this battle but I wouldnt be surprised to see Southern Scotland and especially the Border areas get some snow from this situation. Its going to be interesting to see how things work out over the next week or so but its looking likely that the cold weather will continue and probably deepen in Scotland. I think this winter will be looked back on as a classic.

Merry Christmas everyone! The latest BBC forecast surprised me as they made no mention of any snow/sleet/rain from that band crossing Ireland just now. Its as if they think it will fizzle away after crossing Northern Ireland. On the 06z GFZ this morning it still looks like some sleet or snow moving into South West Scotland late this evening and then crossing Southern and Central Scotland overnight. It doesnt look too heavy but where it falls as snow could give a few centimetres. I wonder who will be right?

I've noticed that. There seems to be a kind of assumption that "they're used to it so we'll focus elsewhere". I dont think the Met Office/BBC has done too well with predictions of localised severe weather but the sheer number of different events, especially snowfall, must have made their job difficult. However, an example of them maybe focusing on what is happening elsewhere was yesterday on radio 5 live when Philip Avery confidently said that "much milder conditions speading in for Christmas with no White Christmas - grey for all". I was thinking "I dont think so".

Looks like quite a few snow showers have clumped together just to the south east of Edinburgh.

Dense patches of freezing fog around Glasgow this morning. Temperature around -8c and the predicted maximum of -3c for today looks optimistic to me. I noticed the ice crystals falling like fine snow in places giving another small covering even on the main roads.

The little low that is moving north east and is running on a line from North Wales across to Manchester should reach the Borders before lunchtime tomorrow but I would think that it depends how much punch it still has left. Its a mixture of rain, sleet and snow down south but due to our surface temperatures, and indeed uppper air temps, would be snow for Scotland. The latest fax shows that it should cross parts of Southern Scotland before moving into the North Sea.

I know its far off and will change but this would make travelling almost impossible for much off Scotland on New Years Day.

It will be interesting to see how low the temperatures go tonight in areas with deep snow cover. If the skies clear and fog doesnt form there could be some really low totals.