Scotland braced for snow and ice ahead of predicted sharp rise in temperature

Snow is to continue falling in some areas of Scotland today and tomorrow, before temperatures rocket sharply to as high as 12C, forecasters have said.

A yellow weather warning for snow and ice is in place on Tuesday, from 3am to 12pm, across a large swathe of Scotland spanning from the Borders and Dumfries and Galloway to north of Dundee.

Snow is forecast for much of Scotland. | Andrew Milligan/PA Wire

The Met Office said up to 20cm of snow could be seen in the highest areas of the country over the next few days, with even locations 100m above sea level recording 3cm.

However, by the end of the week, the mercury is due to rise to 12C in Edinburgh, Glasgow and Inverness and up to 10C in Aberdeen.

Meteorologist Ellie Glaisyer said: “Over the weekend so far we’ve seen a couple of centimetres in the east [of the UK].

Scotland has experienced cold conditions in recent days.

“Going forward, we could see between 1cm and 3cm in parts of Scotland above 100m and the same in the north of the UK Monday into Tuesday.

“In the highest areas, above 300m, Scotland could see up to 20cm.”

It comes after much of the UK has seen “anticyclonic gloom” over the past week, causing dull skies, with some areas not having seen the sun in more than a week.

The predicted temperatures by the middle of the week are well above February’s average, with 6C the usual monthly average in Scotland, which will be a “noticeable shift” after the last fortnight which was below average, Met Office meteorologist Jonathan Vautrey previously said.

More western areas are likely to see some rain during the week, while eastern areas are forecast to stay drier.