Arctic blast brings balmy April to an abrupt end
● Skara Brae and Highland road trip route closed due to wintry conditions
Locals wrapped up against the weather walk through a snow shower along Grampian Road in Aviemore as the blast of Arctic weather that has brought snow to northern Scotland begins to move south
Some of Scotland’s most famous landmarks have been hit by an Arctic blast that has brought heavy snow to parts of the country.
Orkney’s neolithic settlement at Skara Brae was closed to visitors yesterday and motorists intending to drive the notoriously steep Bealach na Ba road in Wester Ross, part of the scenic North Coast 500 route, were being turned back because of treacherous conditions.
More wintry showers and icy winds are expected overnight and into today as the cold maritime air mass spreads southwards, affecting the whole of the UK.
Northern parts of Scotland were expected to be worst hit, with drivers being warned to take extra care.
Yellow severe weather warning remained in place for most of the north and some eastern parts until this morning, with drivers warned to take care.
Forecasters said hail, sleet and snow showers were likely to become frequent overnight and into today.
As much as 5cm of snow was predicted to fall on hills and mountains, while 2cm could accumulate lower down.
They advised travellers to prepare for disruption, with some routes likely to be affected and journeys taking longer.
Met Office spokesman Grahame Madge said air moving over the UK from the Arctic would bring large clouds that could result in hailstorms and thunder and lightning, as well as sleet and snow flurries.
“Those wintry showers will become quite frequent” and could be “just about anywhere in the UK”, he said.
“In the south, it’s possible the people could see sleety rain or hail for some time but we’re not likely to see any accumulation or settling. The more at risk areas for seeing snow are obviously the northern hills, and we could possibly see some settling as far south as places like the higher tops on the North Yorkshire moors.
“But, generally, what we’ll see in those very showery conditions is that when it starts to rain it will drop the temperature, maybe enough to trigger the development of sleet or even the odd snow shower for a time.”
Mr Madge said the colder weather will also bring plummeting temperatures at night.
He said: “By day the temperatures won’t be too bad. Really it’s the night time temperatures that are going to be quite cold. We will see widespread frosts, possibly anywhere, particularly in inland areas.
“These could be quite sharp in places, so obviously there’s an additional warning to gardeners and horticulturalists.”
Mr Madge said late April snow is not unusual but may have come as “a bit of a shock” because the March weather had been milder than usual.