Video: Winter arrives on the Scottish mountains

It doesn't matter if it's a light dusting through Glencoe or a white out in the Cairngorms, Scotland looks great in winter.

Up above the snowy peaks in the Cairngorms, Scotland’s natural winter beauty is breathtaking to behold.

With the longest day of the year behind us, there’s lighter nights to look forward to but no one is watching the skies like the skiers and snowboarders waiting to pounce on a morning of blemishless powder.

For the first time in a decade, Scotland’s oldest snow patch The Sphinx on Aonach Beag melted away this year, but it didn’t take long for November and December’s snowfalls to arrive and coat the hills with glistening white.

Scottish mountains are at risk of avalanches. Picture: FreeGreatPictures/CC

You don’t have to be a skier, snowboarder or even a mountaineer to enjoy Scotland’s mountainous winter landscape.

There are plenty places you can keep your feet planted firmly on the ground at sea level - might we recommend by the side of a frozen loch? Alternatively, accessible hills in the Loch Lomond and Trossachs National Park are a great entry point for those not quite ready to tackle Ben Nevis in the dead of winter.

Alternatively, if you’d rather stay inside in the warmth, can’t find the time (it is coming up to Christmas after all...) or just live a few too many thousands of miles away, then at least you can enjoy the video above.