Lothians weather warning as snowstorm Nemo hits

By LAURA CUMMINGS
Published on 13/02/2013 09:51

SNOWSTORM Nemo is set to hit Edinburgh and the Lothians, with blizzards, rain and gales expected to cause problems for commuters.

The storm, which has brought chaos to America and left thousands without power, is crossing the Atlantic and is due to hit Scotland tomorrow, with residents being urged to remain vigilant.

Temperatures are set to plummet, while the storm will bring up to 10cm of snow in some areas.

However, Met Office forecaster Charles Powell said he expected the impact of the storm would be much less severe than that seen in

America and Canada.

“It will be really heavily modified by the time it comes across the Atlantic,” he said.

“It’s not going to deliver anywhere near the same impact as the weather seen in the eastern part of the US.

“Edinburgh and the Lothians could see a little bit of snow but not too much – a couple of centimetres tomorrow morning.

“As we go through the course of the day, it will tend to revert back to a mixture of rain and snow.”

Midlothian and West Lothian are expected to see more snow than Edinburgh and East Lothian, with between 2cm and 6cm forecast and up to 10cm of snow a possibility in the southern part of Midlothian.

Temperatures will be around two or three degrees Celsius in Edinburgh and the Lothians tomorrow, rising to seven degrees on Thursday.

Gale force gusts between 20mph and 30mph could lead to “particularly tricky” driving conditions for commuters tomorrow morning.

Mr Powell added: “The snow will turn back into a mixture of rain, sleet and snow during the latter part of tomorrow afternoon. The rest of the week will be generally quite dry with the odd shower on Thursday and Friday, and winds will ease.

“Another band of rain will move in from the Atlantic on Saturday.”

Thursday and Friday daytime will see highs of around six to seven degrees Celsius, with temperatures dropping to close to freezing on Friday night.

City environment convener Lesley Hinds said: “Our gritting teams continue to work round the clock to ensure that we keep the city moving. Residents can keep up-to-date with any developments through the winter weather pages on our website, and we would

encourage everyone to make sure they look out for themselves and each other whenever bad weather strikes.”

RAC roadside operations manager, Matt Dallaway, said the RAC will continue to be on high alert this week to help motorists who experience problems. If the weather is as bad as predicted, we could see up to an additional 40 breakdowns tomorrow, taking total call-outs for the day up to approximately 120 in the Lothians,” he said.