Scotland Weather discussion

[jellybaby1969]

Just standard winter weather really for these parts.. nights little below freezing days above freezing odd v light wintery shower..becoming milder n then a borefest high moving in may get a few frosts from that. 

[Quinach]

Finally got some blue sky and sunshine after a thoroughly miserable morning of rain/sleet/snow.

Currently 2.2c with the highest temperature so far today being 2.7c around 3am.

Temperatures dropped around 6am to near freezing with result that the remains of the overnight sleet/snow froze into a sheet of ice.  The morning's precipitation has just made it even more slippy - not surprised there are plenty of warnings out for icy roads.  

At least the winds have died down, just a gentle NW breeze now.

[johncam]

Northerlys just don't pack the same punch anymore , reckon armt least 4c higher than it would have been 40 years ago, lack of sea ice around Svalbard and Barents sea not helping, pish 

 

[Snowandrocks]

Bit an anticlimax last night, no where near the amount of snow that was forecast. Did get some pretty strong winds for a while along with some thundersnow. 

Up at Glenshee today, snow is decent but pretty windy with lots of blowing snow once you get up any height. 

[Ross90]

Absolutely nothing here other than a light dusting overnight into Tuesday which is now gone. There hasn't really been a decent snowy spell here since Feb 21.

[Northernlights]

Calmer view over the Firth this afternoon and in  my eyes a fading system with just scattered snow showers on the horizon Hills over 300m have a lot of snow.  Currently 1c with a ground frost most of today as skies cleared. Very icy surface very difficult to balance on for a grumpy old b like me.

[dryfie]

D&G council seem to have had a bad few days with regard to gritting in our patch (try harder Garry!), including the Lockerbie to Eskdalemuir bus sliding off the road.  Fortunately it was the mid-morning rather than schooltime trip, so bus was quiet.  Nevertheless, driver in shock.  Drove up to East Neuk yesterday pm for a funeral today, with only 'hazard' being few flakes of snow West Linton area.  Sadness of today's event somewhat lifted by the glorious dry weather here in Elie.

[Paul]

Nice snowy walk up in Glenmore again this pm. Think we'll be hitting the slopes on Cairngorm tomorrow, fingers crossed.. 

 

[SW Saltire]

37 minutes ago, dryfie said:

D&G council seem to have had a bad few days with regard to gritting in our patch (try harder Garry!), including the Lockerbie to Eskdalemuir bus sliding off the road.  Fortunately it was the mid-morning rather than schooltime trip, so bus was quiet.  Nevertheless, driver in shock.  Drove up to East Neuk yesterday pm for a funeral today, with only 'hazard' being few flakes of snow West Linton area.  Sadness of today's event somewhat lifted by the glorious dry weather here in Elie.

The roads are a joke. I have been south of the border recently, borders, south lanarlshire and up north most recently. The potholes are horrific compared to every other council region. Genuine tyre killers on almost all roads often including main routes.

 

Weather wise, now that i’m back in the tropical south it was feeling toasty today at 4.5c in strong sunshine. Some shaded back roads are lethal, wee covering of snow left. 
Southern uplands looking resplendent, (proper) snowline 350m.

[SW Saltire]

46 minutes ago, Paul said:

Nice snowy walk up in Glenmore again this pm. Think we'll be hitting the slopes on Cairngorm tomorrow, fingers crossed.. 

 

Brilliant photos! Pretty magical

Something that resonated with me from my trip away was a convo I overhead from two guy (in their late 40s if i’m being kind) and they were saying how ‘there’s lots of fresh snow at the carpark. I took the new van up with the kids when it was empty. Traction control - OFF. RWD - ON and then sent the thing flying about’. He then said ‘I turned to the kids and went don’t tell your mum!’. Just brilliant, you don’t need to ever fully grow up! 

[Mr T]

23 minutes ago, SW Saltire said:

Brilliant photos! Pretty magical

Something that resonated with me from my trip away was a convo I overhead from two guy (in their late 40s if i’m being kind) and they were saying how ‘there’s lots of fresh snow at the carpark. I took the new van up with the kids when it was empty. Traction control - OFF. RWD - ON and then sent the thing flying about’. He then said ‘I turned to the kids and went don’t tell your mum!’. Just brilliant, you don’t need to ever fully grow up! 

Was doing something similar in an empty carpark near our house in the Dec cold spell. Off course our 8yr old blabber mouth did tell his ma after I said something similar.... Agree - never grow up. Winter tyres and a Golf R is the best weapon for controlled fun in the snow !!!

[Norrance]

Nice sunset here. Been pretty much dry all week but some showers nearby. Temp back down to zero now.
Sun has finally come out for my daughters trip to the French Alps but getting pretty cold. -20C forecast for during the day on Friday. Snow conditions are perfect though with packed powder on piste and deep powder off.

[Northernlights]

What a winter we are having .Its back to heavy powdery snow at 0c and the ice rapidly getting covered.  Just reminds me of the winters in the sixties and seventies as the cold comes and goes.  Will it keep going into March and early April like it used to up here.?

[Ravelin]

Cleared about 2 or 3cm of snow from the driveway before leaving from work this morning, top layer was a crust of frozen wet snow so it must have warmed up for a bit before refreezing. Drive to work was OK, mainly wet roads, slushy in places. Overall no real depth to any lying snow between Alford and Westhill, certainly no evidence of drifting despite the strong wind last night. 

Frequent enough snow showers in Westhill through the day, but again light and brief. Must have been similar at home as there was a fresh layer of frozen snow on the driveway when we got home. Currently -1.4C after a high of 1.8C.

[Mair Snaw]

Those of you that have wood burning stoves.. what type of wood do you burn? Trying to source hardwood but really not sure what is best for burning to length of burn etc.. also anybody use these heat logs that i keep seeing? If so any good.?

[Northern Strath]

As others within the Amber area noted, it wasn’t anything exceptional last night. An inch fell in showers and there was drifting in the usual spots. This morning though we got a few solid hours of heavy snow and 4 inches or more 

Now through in aberdeenshire for a couple of nights with work, cold, calm and clear with a biting wind earlier 

[Wold Topper]

41 minutes ago, Mair Snaw said:

Those of you that have wood burning stoves.. what type of wood do you burn? Trying to source hardwood but really not sure what is best for burning to length of burn etc.. also anybody use these heat logs that i keep seeing? If so any good.?

I Only burn hard wood on mine, tried soft wood once and my burner devoured it like kindling! Mine is a multi-fuel so i also use smokeless coal when its 'ticking' over or to 'keep it in' over night. hard wood burns hotter and burns longer imo just my tuppence worth

Edited January 18, 2023 by Wold Topper

[Hairy Celt]

It's dropped below freezing this evening with more snow showers to bring everything back to Narnia-lite conditions. Loud squeaky underfoot and white trees. Lovely. 

@Mair Snaw - burn whatever you can get cheapest but make sure it's <20% moisture. Hard woods burn hotter and longer than soft woods. Ash and sycamore are a good compromise as they dry almost as quickly as softwoods but have more heat in them. Birch is good but takes longer to dry.

[Ravelin]

52 minutes ago, Mair Snaw said:

Those of you that have wood burning stoves.. what type of wood do you burn? Trying to source hardwood but really not sure what is best for burning to length of burn etc.. also anybody use these heat logs that i keep seeing? If so any good.?

We just get whatever the local guy has, as his prices are reasonable and he stacks it in the wood store (most others just dump it on driveway). We've certainly used birch, from trees we had taken down, which was OK. We do buy some hardwood to occasionally mix in but I can't be sure what it's been. 

We mainly burn softwood though as its cheaper and the stove is only usually on for a couple of hours in the evening with us sitting in the room so no hassle topping it up. I have a big stack still out back from a storm felled fir still to split. We've tried the heat logs from the likes of Tesco/Aldi and although they do burn well I found they sooted up the glass no matter what I did.

If we want a longer burning stove, at the weekend for example, we use smokeless coal ovals. When we lost power for days last year due to the storm they kept the stove going almost overnight, keeping the house at a bearable temperature even first thing when we got up. I always make sure we have at least one bag in the garage just in case. Ours is a multifuel stove though, they might not work well in a pure wood burner. 

Edited January 18, 2023 by Ravelin

[Halfamilefromnowhere]

Well the drive back up from England last night wasn’t too bad although probably not for the faint hearted.  Ok until past Dalwhinnie then constant snow cover on the road but it had been plough and gritted although it was readily freezing.  Around Inverness very snowy and the Struie is still closed due to drifting snow and ice. So diverted to Tain up to Bonar Bridge road snow covered and icy but go steady and you are fine.  More heavy snow showers today one in particular giving a good inch in rapid time. As Northern Lights said earlier it has been a proper winter up here so far.

[Halfamilefromnowhere]

Some good anvil shaped shower clouds skirting to the east this afternoon too.

[Mair Snaw]

@Ravelin do you have the contact details for your supplier please?

[Hairy Celt]

3 hours ago, Northernlights said:

What a winter we are having .Its back to heavy powdery snow at 0c and the ice rapidly getting covered.  Just reminds me of the winters in the sixties and seventies as the cold comes and goes.  Will it keep going into March and early April like it used to up here.?

Hmm. I grew up in south Lake District and winters were cold but not usually especially snowy - we were away from the hills but also quite inland. I remember icicles, icy puddles most days, parents worrying about freezing pipes, and when it did snow, there'd be landrovers and tractors towing cars up the hill we were on. That would be December through till March. Still got family near there and they report frosts are uncommon and lying snow unusual.

We moved to the Black Isle nearly 30 years ago (!) so nowhere near long enough to detect trends. But older folk say it's not as cold or snowy.

 

[Kirkcaldy Weather]

2 polar lows in as many days! This winter is mental

 

 

Should see showers ahead of its approach and the main wraparound front giving a good top up to the northern dwellers, some Fife snow shield action as it heads south ha

 

[Ravelin]

8 hours ago, Mair Snaw said:

@Ravelin do you have the contact details for your supplier please?

It's Alford Firewood, but pretty sure the guy only delivers locally. Think he works offshore on the rigs and it's a sideline for him.