Scotland was blasted by unseasonable weather yesterday with snow covering many remote or elevated areas across the country – but conditions are expected to heat up as the weekend progresses.
Cold air from the Arctic brought freezing cold conditions to plenty of communities on higher ground, including Braemar, Aviemore, and Grantown.
Snow and sleet also fell across many northern areas, including Thurso, Lairg and other parts of Caithness.
Unusually chilly May weather also bought snow to the islands, including Stornoway and Stromness.
Yesterday evening, motorists were advised to drive carefully on many higher roads due to potentially slippy conditions caused by the snow and colder temperatures, including the B974 Banchory to Fettercairn Cairn O’Mount road, and the Old Military Road north of Gairnshiel.
Thermometers were last night forecast to drop to 0C in many elevated regions in the early hours of this morning, including Dingwall, Kingussie and Aboyne.
However, the wintry weather is expected to be mostly gone by this afternoon as warmer temperatures and sunshine heat up the north of Scotland.
Lengthy periods of sunshine interspersed with rainfall have been predicted in many parts of Aberdeen and Aberdeenshire this afternoon, and temperatures could reach as high as 8C in coastal communities like Lossiemouth, Peterhead and Aberdeen.
Villages and towns inland are expected to face chillier temperatures this afternoon of around 4C to 5C, and dark overcast conditions are forecast for the central and northern Highlands.
However, the west coast is expected to bask in warmer temperatures, with 10C conditions forecast for parts of the western isles and Skye and Lochalsh.
Very little further snow has been predicted to fall this evening, and overnight temperatures are not anticipated to dip lower than around 4C in many areas, especially in places close to the seaside.
Meteorologists expect tomorrow to be even warmer as thermometers are expected to reach as high as 10C in some places during the afternoon, despite heavy cloud cover.
The warmest areas are expected to be around central and southern Aberdeenshire, with 10C temperatures predicted for Stonehaven, Laurencekirk and also Aberdeen late tomorrow afternoon.
