The north of Scotland is preparing for blizzard conditions this morning as a northerly wind brings in arctic air.
The Met Office last night issued a yellow warning for snow for Grampian and the Highlands which is in place until 11am today.
Temperatures will drop dramatically to mid-winter levels as the arctic air sweeps in.
Yesterday in parts of eastern Aberdeenshire it was 13C, while further north in Moray, Inverness and the Highlands it was slightly cooler.
However today a maximum of only 6C is expected in the north and north-east, with temperatures dropping as low as 2C during snow showers.
During the morning clusters of snow showers will form above Caithness and Sutherland.
This area will expand and push down towards Inverness, Moray and Aberdeenshire.
There will be some rain and sleet, which will develop into snow.
At higher levels the showers will be more intense and about 2ins of snow is expected to fall – with inland Aberdeenshire, Moray and the Highlands most likely to see the heaviest snowfall.
The Met Office have warned that this will cause disruption to travel routes, particularly at higher levels, and people have been advised to allow extra time for their journey.
In the afternoon it is expected the wintry showers will ease off as some of the arctic air drifts over the North Sea.
Tomorrow will once again be bitterly cold with a maximum of just 5C predicted.
Some snow is expected in upland areas but lower down rain or sleet is more likely and these showers will be pushed away quite quickly due to strong winds.
Milder conditions are expected to return on Wednesday and Thursday.
Peter Sloss, meteorologist with the Met Office in Aberdeen, explained the cause of the wintry conditions.
He said: “It’s ultimately to do with the jet stream in the atmosphere which has moved further south and the wind direction has changed and we are getting this cold air down from the arctic.
“As we go through Wednesday and Thursday the wind direction will be back towards a westerly and we will start to draw in milder conditions from the Atlantic.
“It will be a fairly short lived cold spell.”
