Winter arrived in dramatic fashion across the north and north-east at the weekend, after a whiteout enveloped the region’s ski slopes and closed some of the area’s remotest roads.
Snow gates on the A93 between Braemar and the Spittal of Glenshee and the A939 Lecht Road road, at Tomintoul, were closed for long periods yesterday due to heavy snow.
And Aberdeenshire Council placed its gritters on standby as the Cairngorms experienced its first major snowfall of the season, with temperatures diving to -4C on mountain tops.
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Strong winds, combined with sleet, hail and rain was widespread throughout the north-east, coming in as far as Aberdeen on Saturday.
However, snowboarders and skiers became giddy with anticipation after images surfaced of several inches of snow at slopes of The Lecht and CairnGorm Mountain.
Similar conditions were also captured by the Braemar Mountain Rescue Team on Saturday at Lochnagar, a famed eastern Munro between Braemar and Ballater.
CairnGorm Mountain experienced winds of between 20mph and 30mph, along with about 8in of snowfall.
Despite the Arctic conditions, the mercury in towns and villages did not drop below 0C.
However, the Met Office warned last night the winter weather would endure this week, coming to a head overnight from tomorrow (Tuesday) into Wednesday morning.
Temperatures could drop to as low as -5C in inland areas of the north-east, with snow expected to lie in the likes of Aviemore, Braemar, Ballater and Aboyne.
Inverness may also experience a flurry of the white stuff, though it is not expected to make it as far east as Aberdeen, where it is more likely to fall as rain.
Met Office meteorologist, Robin Steel, said: “Cairngorm and the higher parts of Lochnagar have seen the highest snowfall. Night time temperatures have generally been closer to 0C, but the coldest parts of the country have been across the west and south-west.
“The key thing over the next couple of days, because we are losing the wind, is that frost is going to be more widespread in inland Aberdeenshire and Moray.
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“Monday is not too bad, but there is still a chance of one or two showers. It will be a chilly start to Tuesday.
“During the second part of Tuesday, ill and mountain snow is coming from the west and potentially into the first part of Wednesday.
“The places likely to see snow are Aviemore and the usual suspects, Braemar and maybe even inland Aberdeenshire.
“Places like Aboyne and Ballater could see some lying snow by the end of Tuesday and the start of Wednesday.”
