The wintry blast that blanketed the north-east in a covering of snow brought disruption in its wake.
But the icy conditions, with the Met Office warning of more to come, are just a taste of some of the severe winter weather the north-east has endured over the years. We’ve opened the archives on some chilly scenes from over the decades.
A gang of railwaymen struggle through massive snowdrifts to free the Buchan train, stranded on its way to Aberdeen in 1960. The 57 passengers were stuck at Newmachar for 16 hours before help arrived.
Council workmen were hard at work in 1958, but looked to be fighting a losing battle to clear the snow in blizzard conditions on Union Street.
A great blizzard in 1960 caused chaos on roads across the north-east. Pictured are stranded vehicles on the Aberdeen-Kintore road, as drivers gave up their battle against the elements.
The winter of 1984 saw some spectacular dumps of snow. In Tarves, neightbours Lorna Rossvoli and Margaret Main stop for a chat while stocking up again in case of further snowfalls.
When the weather does its worst, the people of Aberdeen do their best. Here drivers help each out of trouble after slithering to a halt going up the King’s Gate in 1988.
In this atmospheric picture a snowplough battles to keep the Lecht open after a winter storm in January 1977.
The fastest way to the shops in 1985 was by sledge. Sue Lessels, of Whitehall Terrace, and her children, Tom and Ellie, have the snail’s pace traffic beaten as they make their way down Union Street.
Street orderlies George Douglas and Ronald Walker clear the snow from the pavements on Greenfern Road, Mastrick, in 1987.
A snowplough from Huntly clears one of the many side roads off the Insch-Huntly road at Wardhouse Station, where the snow lay in 6ft drifts in 1970.
Snow clearance of pavements is under way as the trams trundle along in this picture, looking west along Aberdeen’s Union Street from the Broad Street junction in January 1942. The Esslemont & Macintosh department store is on the right of the photograph.
