Scotland's weather: Cool couple quite at home in snowbound motorhome

After 31 years living in the same house in Kingston-on-Thames, Derek and Hanneke Robson sold up in 2008 and began an indefinite round-Britain trip in a 21-year-old campervan.

Yesterday, the couple were making the best of their situation, visiting the Cairngorms while their vehicle was stuck under 4ft of snow in a campsite at Loch Morlich.

Derek, 63, an electrician, and Dutch-born Hanneke, 61, a artist/photographer, are on their third trip to Scotland and enjoying the conditions despite the freezing temperatures.

Hanneke said: "We had all the hassles over the years of paying off the mortgage and things were getting on top of us just when the recession started.

"We put our house on the market in June, 2008 and shut the front the door for the last time on 10 September, 2008.

"The first few months were quite tough but we decided we wanted a really good look at Britain. Since then we've been on the road in our old motorhome, staying in farms, smallholdings, campsites and wild camping.

"This is our third winter and the coldest temperature we've recorded so far was -25C, including wind chill, in Stranraer last March."

But she said she and her husband are "having a ball".

"It's fantastic," she said. "Every day is different. Everyone should do it. Material things don't matter, you can't take it with you."