>Parts of Highland Scotland & N Pennines Of England Waken To Snow

Written by Mark Vogan on May 11, 2012 in Rest of Europe with 0 Comments

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Wild Weather Takes Saturday Off But Returns By Sunday With Yet ANOTHER Low, Snow Blankets Highlands & North Pennines

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Snow blankets A9 near Slochd Summit, south of Inverness this morning (Courtesy of Daily Mail)

It’s been an incredible pattern if you like late season cold, snow and wild weather. For some, this has been the ultimate drought-buster with Britain experiencing it’s wettest April on record on the heels of 5th driest, 3rd warmest March and record driest 2 year period. From depleting reservoirs to epic floods, this dramatic flip in pattern has stopped us all in our tracks, in awe of mother natures breathtaking way of showing us that she’s in control and ALWAYS finds balance. We’ve no need to worry about global warming here in the UK this month. The drought and record warmth by some have been unjustifiably blamed on global warming yet the big rains, cold and snow of this month must be global warming too right?

A stunning image captured by Paul Wilson of a frozen Cairngorm Summit, Central Highlands following a fresh May snowfall (Courtesy of BBC)

Just last weekend I drove southbound down the M74, cutting through the Southern Uplands and my truck dash temperature read -6C (21F), not only was this very impressive for May but it was also the SECOND LOWEST VALUE I’ve seen during all of the past winter. Parts of Scotland and England woke to May snow too last Saturday morning. Yes, this morning, May 11th is one of several occations this month where fresh snow has fallen over Scotland and northern England. Incidentally, as I drove down the same stretch of M74 during the early hours of this morning, heavy winddriven rains was mixed with sleet while the dash temp read a cold 2C (36F). Impressive!

Following such a dissapointing winter for snow lovers, it seems we’ve caught up and although it’s not widespread, we are seeing snow fall and accummulate well into May now across many parts of the Scottish Highlands, even North Pennines of England. It’s no easy task for the atmosphere to not only support snow to the surface and down to elevations of barely 1,000ft but to get it sticking is even tough given the stronger sun angle which warms the ground.

Temps by now should be up to 13 or 14C (55-57F) but parts of the Highlands today struggled to reach 5C (40F). Factor in a stiff, cold wind blowing out of the northeast yesterday and northwest today and in places, it felt below freezing all day.