Scotland weather: Residents share snowy pictures on 'bitterly cold day' as temperatures plummet

Residents across Scotland woke up to snow this morning as temperatures dropped to minus 7 in parts of the country.

Pictures shared by residents in Scotland as they make the most of the cold weather pictures: SWNS and supplied

After a balmy Good Friday and Saturday, temperatures fell dramatically on Sunday night leading to snowfall across the north of Scotland and the Shetland Isles.

A family in Inverness were seen making the most of the wintry weather on Easter Monday by building a snow bunny.

Mum-of-three Kate Macleod, 37, said: "It was lovely initially and became a blizzard snowing heavy, thick and fast.

Kate Macleod, 37, helped her children build a snow bunny this morning (April 5) at 8am in Inverness, Scottish Highlands picture: SWNS

"It's freezing in the wind.

"The bunny is a small one so only took a few minutes to make.

"We were out in PJs first thing as excited in the snow at breakfast time.”

High winds of up to 70mph have also hit parts of the country during the cold snap.

Jack Russell terriers Lottie and Flow struggled to keep their feet on the ground during a routine walk in wild conditions in their home village of Boddam in Shetland picture: SWNS

Dog walker John Moncrieff, 48, shared a picture of his two Jack Russell terriers Lottie and Flow nearly being blown away in 60mph winds during a snowy walk in their home village of Boddam on the Shetland Isles.

The father-of-two said the dogs seemed intrigued by the snow at first but were keen to get home when the conditions worsened.

He said: "They are quite used to the bad weather living here, but today was like nothing they have seen before.”

Snow and high wind warnings are in place for northern Scotland until Tuesday morning, with as much as 15cm of snow expected to fall in the country’s higher areas.

With parts of Scotland expecting to see the mercury fall to as low as minus 7C (19.4F) during the cold spell, forecasters warned the country to brace for a “bitterly cold” Monday.

Met Office forecaster Simon Partridge said: “There’ll be a drop of 11 degrees between one day and the next, so you will definitely notice it!”

Mr Partridge explained that a change of wind direction brings a change in the atmosphere, leading to chilly weather.

He said: “The air we had on Sunday came in from the south so it’s pretty mild having come off the continent.

“Overnight we’ll see a cold front moving southward across the country, it’s already across northern Scotland, and it’ll push its way southward overnight.

“That will introduce much, much colder air across the whole country.”

The extreme weather has led to severe travel disruption in parts of Scotland.

ScotRail services between Aberdeen and Edinburgh have been delayed and may be cancelled due to a tree falling down and blocking the railway between Montrose and Aberdeen.

According to the train company services aren’t expected to return to normal until earlier 5pm.

A police car also crashed in Aberdeenshire as the icy conditions gripped the country’s northern regions.

The patrol vehicle left the road while travelling along the A947, north of Fyvie, at about 9.30am on Monday

No injuries were reported in the incident, but the road was blocked for about an hours as emergency services arranged for the vehicle to be recovered.

While the snow warning is set to finish by Tuesday morning, the arctic winds are expected to continue into the week, with most of the country at risk of snow or hail on Tuesday as temperatures will struggle to rise above 9C, even in the south of England.

A message from the Editor:

Thank you for reading this article. We're more reliant on your support than ever as the shift in consumer habits brought about by Coronavirus impacts our advertisers.

If you haven't already, please consider supporting our trusted, fact-checked journalism by taking out a digital subscription.