Weather: Snow and freezing winds sweep Scotland

SNOW flurries blew in from the east yesterday, as freezing winds swept across Scotland.

Temperatures plunged as low as –9.7C (14F) in the north overnight and struggled to get above zero throughout the country, with wind chill making it feel colder still.

The lowest reading was at Altnaharra in Sutherland, but there were many others approaching that in northern Scotland.

The cold winds bringing sleet and snow have been coming in from the North Sea.

But Ken McEwan, a forecaster at the Met Office in Aberdeen, said a large area of cloud spreading across most of Scotland would act as a “blanket”, keeping temperatures higher over the weekend. “The could be seen as a blessing in disguise, with cloudy skies at night preventing the temperature dropping so much,” he said.

Temperatures are expected to rise from Monday to more normal levels for the time of year, reaching as high as 7C or 8C by the end of the week.

More cold winds could come in from the north-west around that time, but there is no sign of a return to the significant snowfalls seen earlier this winter, or of a sustained mild spell.