Scotland’s summer weather: snow and road closures

SUMMER may be only days away - but two high level routes in Aberdeenshire were today hit by fresh falls of overnight snow.

May and snow is still falling on Scotland's hills. Picture: Cairngorm CairnGorm Mountain Ltd

• A939 between Cockbridge and Tomintoul passable with care

• A93 between Braemar and Glenshee also affected by snow

• Walkers and climbers warned to prepare for wintry conditions

Traffic Scotland are warning motorists that two of the region’s roads, notorious for being repeatedly blocked by snow in winter, are only “passable with care.”

And a message, posted on Twitter by the Moray Division of Police Scotland, summed up the unseasonal situation. The force posted: “The A939 Lecht Ski Centre-Tomintoul road (Snow Gate 18) is badly affected by SNOW. No, we can’t quite believe we’re tweeting this either.”

Traffic Scotland confirmed that the A939 between Cockbridge and Tomintoul, which passes the Lecht ski centre, was affected in both direction by snow. A spokesman said: “The route is passable with care.”

The agency also reported that the A93 between Braemar and Glenshee was also affected by snow in both directions and was again only “passable with care.”

The warning to motorists came as the Met Office also told walkers and climbers to prepare for wintry conditions on Scotland’s mountain and hills with blizzard conditions and winds of up to 80mph expected in some areas.

Martin Young, chief forecaster with the Met Office, said: “Although we are well into May we will see some very difficult conditions on the mountains, especially on Thursday.”

He added: “On the tops of the mountains in Scotland we could see winds gusting up to 80mph, giving blizzard conditions in the snow and making things very hazardous.”