Caribbean front brings promise of soaring temperatures but hares already confused
SCOTLAND is set for a blast of early spring with double-digit temperatures from a warm Caribbean weather front.
The blast of balmy air will see temperatures climb further today – mercury could hit 17°C (62°F) in parts of Scotland while Aberdeen could see highs in the mid-teens (60°F).
However, the brief respite from February’s usually wintry mix will fade away as the week goes on, with strong winds and some gales forecast from Thursday.
Met Office forecaster Marco Petagna said: “We have a bit of an east/west split developing across the UK. Across eastern areas it will be a dry day with sunny spells at times, especially in the morning.
“The south east might start with some low cloud, mist and fog but that will lift and they will have a fine day.
“In the west and north west the cloud will be thicker and there will be increasing fog in the afternoon and later in the day.
“There will be drizzle at times in the west and rain will become more persistent over the west ofScotland,withitturning increasingly windy in the north.”
But the mild winter has also sent March hares mad in February with mountain hares being lured into their annual fights a month early due to a lack of heavy snow.
These punching pictures were taken by wildlife photographer and guide Andy Howard in the Cairngorms national park near his home in Inverness.
Although boxing hares were thought to be between males vying for dominance, research showed that it was often the females testing the strength of the males.
Andy, 46, said: “This winter has been particularly mild and with the lack of snow, this seems to have started the hares’ ‘mad March’ boxing early. It’s at this time of the year that the female hares, jills, come in to season. This in turn attracts the attention of the male hares, jacks.”