>….POWER OF SNOW BRINGS COLD DAYS AND NIGHTS ACROSS SCOTLAND….

THOSE COLD DAYS AND NIGHTS NOW BRING 100% PROBABILITY OF A WHITE CHRISTMAS FOR MOST OF SCOTLAND, EVEN SOME COASTAL COMMUNITIES WILL SEE SOME SNOW ON THE GROUND!
Most will have at least a half inch, here in the central belt with day after day of snow showers we will likely have around 3″ on the ground and areas of the Highlands and Southern Uplands shgould have the “whitest” Christmas Day with 6″ or more in places like the higher terrain of South Lanarkshire and Dumfries and Galloway as well as points north across Invernesshire, Perthshire and other areas with high ground.
It was havoc on the roads across the country this morning with severe icing rapidly forming after yesterday afternoon’s heavy snowfall across the country and with clear skies and cold air in place it was a dangerous morning to be on the roads. Over the higher ground of South Lanarkshire (between Happendon and Abington Services on the M74 it was treacherous with severe frozen snow and ice which covered much of the motorway, restricting the mostly freight traffic to one lane and a 30mph crawl. Snow appeared to be between 6-9 inches deep but this is a high region within the heart of the Southern Uplands..
After a cold overnight nationwide and a high yesterday of -8C or 18 degrees which was down from -15.7C or 4 degrees, skies began clouding over and shut off the cooling process. If they hadn’t, we may have bottomed out here at the house as low as 14 degrees. However my anticipated “highs” in the mid-20s may come Christmas Eve and Christmas day as nights drop well into the teens.

9.15pm Update
It’s amazing at how many folks are waking up, feeling the nip and then stepping outside to moan their way to their cars, only to find, doors won’t open, engines will struggle to start, central locking packs in. Or we find planes skidding off runways at Prestwick or Central Station struggling to cope with frozen points… This folks is “true cold” and something we have not seen in about 10 years, or perhaps since 2000-01… I’ve been forced to alter my predicted low for here at the house as it’s now down to 18 outside and will surpass the 17-degree low and likely by morning we will have shivered our way to a new low for the season. At this rate, we’re on target for 14 degrees. Plenty can stop this, as the air grows ever colder, it can’t reach it’s maximum cold early or late. Cloud can roll in like we saw this morning or fog can rapidly form. Nearby Kirkintilloch has fog right now, we’re under clear skies and light winds but that fog is less than 3 miles away and could easily start to ooze our way.. If not, 4″ of snow on the ground, sealing the ground from heat and brilliant clear skies, calm winds and an Arctic air mass in place, there’s no reason we can’t seen some good old fashioned cold. Remember, the colder the morning, if conditions are right during the day, we could see a cold high perhaps only top out around 27 degrees, perhaps even lower. The Highlands Glens communities which are falling off towards zero or -18C struggle to see any sunshine or at least minimal sunlight, therefore removing the cold, dense air from the bottom of Glens can be tough and therefore highs these days are struggling to warm above 14 degrees or -10C. It was 18 degrees yesterday for the high at Dalwhinnie. There are likely a few spots within the central belt that may hit 10 degrees tonight. Certainly widespread 14 to 16 degree air.

Forecast for my house: Low tonight 14 degrees. High tomorrow 27 degrees, Low tomorrow night 14 degrees, Christmas Day high 25 degrees, Low Christmas night 18 degrees.

Thanks for reading.
-Mark