Blue Skies and Ice

These two photos from Julie Allcock give a snapshot of the weather we've had over the past week. In the picture above, taken from the bay beside the CalMac pier, Mingary Castle stands below the snow-covered slopes of Ben Hiant.

But this picture, taken along the shore below The Ferry Stores, shows the other side of these bright days. With temperatures dropping well below -5C at night even the sea has frozen.

Last night saw a sudden change. By 9pm a brisk wind was blowing from the south yet the ground was covered with sparkling frost. Then, in the early hours of this morning, a front moved in from the west, bringing rain which, on the roads, laid a sheen of ice across compacted snow, making treacherous driving conditions across the centre of the peninsula.

Compared to the rest of the country, where temperatures have dropped in places to -20C and Edinburgh reports snow drifts two foot deep, closing its airport for two days, our weather seems positively tame. But to us it's extreme: washed, as we are, by the mild waters of the North Atlantic Drift, in most 'normal' winters we hardly see a frost, even in January. And this is early December.