Road Trip Into A Snowy, Windswept Scottish Highlands

Written by on May 23, 2013 in United Kingdom & Ireland with 0 Comments

Apologies for the lack of posting today. Decided to take a drive up into the snowy Grampians after I heard reports this morning of both the A939 and A93 forced to close. There was also reports of a fresh 12cm of snow which fell overnight at the Glenmore car park at the base of Cairngorm Summit. That down at village level, Impressive!

I thought I don’t think I’ve ever been in a snow covered landscape in late May before.

I drove up to Braemar late this afternoon and en-route crossed over the UK’s highest point by road, Cairnwell Pass, home to the Glenshee ski centre. There was some snow there but not as bad as earlier in the day. In fact it was bad enough that the road was forced to close. The wind was probably the most noteworthy feature as there was a howling, icy gale blowing straight out of the north, holding an air temperature at 3C. Snow and hail was stinging my face as I opened my car windows to capture images.

I intended to head up to the Lecht ski centre but in fact couldn’t find the turn off. Further on along the A939 which passes the Lecht, in the Cock Bridge to Tomintoul stretch remained closed due to the snow.

Although this is very late, it’s by no means unheard of and not just up over the mountains. Back on JUNE 2nd, 1975, many sites across the UK reported snow. According to Matt Taylor, the summer that followed was 7th driest and 9th hottest in the UK!

This spring will likely go down as the coldest since 1979, helped greatly by the coldest March in over half a century. Parts of Scotland experienced it’s coldest April on record while this month has been no picnic.

Glenshee Ski Centre on May 23rd (Courtesy of Mark Vogan)

Glenshee Ski Centre on May 23rd (Courtesy of Mark Vogan)

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