Nostalgia: Flurry of activity from snowy skies

Published on Saturday 7 February 2009 10:22

HEAVY snow and freezing temperatures caused havoc across Scotland this week. Flights were cancelled, schools were closed and road conditions were treacherous.

But while snowfall of 30cm in Edinburgh and the Lothians caused massive disruption for many, it was a far cry from the damage caused by the Capital's blizzards in the mid-20th century.

The main photograph was taken from a light aircraft flying over the heart of Edinburgh in February 1967, when the snow formed a blanket over the city.

That month, the worst road delays took place on the A74 Glasgow to Carlisle road, with queues of vehicles forming for 15 miles.

In February 1968, conditions were worse, with three people killed on Scotland's icebound roads in one weekend, and dozens of minor accidents.

Heavy snow in December 1976 brought chaos to Scotland's railways, with British Rail staff having to clear the lines outside Waverley Station, which featured frozen points and snowbound trains.

An Edinburgh Corporation bus is also pictured travelling through the snow on Princes Street in January 1972.

Despite the bitter weather in February 1969, the clash between Hibs and Motherwell went ahead at Easter Road and ended 1-1.

Hibs goalie Gordon Marshall was called into action on a number of occasions, as our picture illustrates.

Also in February 1969, swans struggled on the frozen water of Leith at Leith Docks.

However, The extreme weather had its benefits too, as hundreds of people in January 1955 demonstrated. They took advantage of the cold to enjoy a spot of skating on Inverleith Pond in January 1955.

The same month, supplies of paraffin and stoves ran out in Edinburgh shops and Royal Navy Air Service helicopters from Lossiemouth, temporarily based at Wick Airport, answered dozens of emergency calls from isolated communities in Caithness and Sutherland, and subsequently supplied them with food, while three other helicopters were sent from the South of England.