Scotland’s weather: Sunshine melts March records as Skye hotter than Mallorca

MUCH of Scotland looks set to continue basking in glorious spring sunshine this week, after the warmest March day on record saw parts of the country hotter than Mallorca at the weekend.

At Fyvie Castle in Aberdeenshire, the mercury hit 22.8C yesterday, beating the previous record of 22.2C set in March 1957 at Gordon Castle, in Moray, and again at Strachan, in Kincardineshire, in 1965.

Records were broken across the country, including at Kinloss, Tain, Braemar, Strathallan and Skye, with Scotland as a whole enjoying warmer temperatures than the Balearic islands.

Glasgow Airport recorded a high of 19.3C, beating the previous March record of 16.4C. The unseasonably pleasant conditions look set to continue into this week, with forecasters predicting temperatures today will be even higher.

But while it was ice cream weather for some, not everyone enjoyed an early taste of summer. In Shetland, temperatures struggled to get above 6C, while Dundee only saw 14C, as fog that had affected other parts of the east coast on Saturday moved across the Tay estuary.

Dave Clark, a forecaster with the Met Office in Aberdeen, said the good weather would continue into the week for much of the country before turning cooler towards the weekend.

He said: “We’re seeing lots of records tumbling. There’s high pressure pulling warm air from across the Continent, where it has warmed up quite nicely, and we’ve been lucky with the way we’re getting the wind.

“Sunday has been a very warm day – temperatures for this time of year are usually around 10C.

“On Monday, it’s likely to go a degree warmer, and while it will still be fine on Tuesday, temperatures will come down a couple of degrees. Wednesday will also be a nice day, but again we are likely to see a few degrees off the temperature.”

Many people made the most of the weather yesterday, with crowds heading to Scotland’s parks and beaches.

Yolanda Luca, director of Musselburgh-based ice cream firm S Luca, said the company’s East Lothian shop had sold more than 4,000 cones, compared with about 400 on an average Sunday.

She said: “We’ve had people queuing down the street for ice cream for the first time this year, including those in bikins who have just come from Portobello beach.”

The warmest ever March day for the UK as a whole stands at 25.6C, which was set at Mepal, Cambridgeshire, in 1968.