A yellow weather warning for ice has been issued by the Met Office, as temperatures in parts of northern Scotland fell far below freezing point earlier this week.
The warning, which covers most of the country north of Stirling, says freezing rain may fall from Wednesday afternoon – potentially causing travel disruption.
It came into effect at 2pm yesterday, and this morning was extended to last until 10am.
Last Sunday, Braemar recorded the lowest temperature in the UK so far this winter with 9.1C, but beat its own record by more than a degree on Tuesday night.
It was the coldest place covered by Met Office statistics at -10.2C, followed by Aboyne at -10C and Balmoral at -9.9C.
However, a post from Highlands & Islands Weather on Facebook on Wednesday said parts of the country had fallen even lower – with Inverlaidnan near Carrbridge recording -12C.
Residents of Braemar will likely be watching the thermometer with some nerves, after the Aberdeenshire town recorded the coldest temperature in Scotland since 1995 back in February.
Heavy snowfall on its way?
It seems unlikely that the mercury will drop anywhere near -23C again soon, but the Met Office has said the current chill may last for a few days.
Nicola Maxey, a spokeswoman for the meteorological agency, said: “We’re certainly not seeing a rise in temperatures over the next few days.
“We’ve got some milder air coming in from the south, but at the moment it’s not looking like it’ll push as far north as Scotland. Scotland will hang on to the colder air.”
She added that the meeting of these two fronts may create an opportunity for a white Christmas in parts of the country, saying: “That boundary between the milder air coming up from the south and the cold over the north is where we’re most likely to see heavy snow.
“The warm air coming from the south has got some rain in it, some moisture, so as it hits that cold air in the north, that’s where we’re more likely to see snowfall, which for Christmas Eve and Christmas Day is most likely to be over higher ground in Scotland.”
