From Snow Go To Slow Go

Well a week has passed since the dramatic events of last Monday. Thundersnow took us all by surprise and the snow continued to fall heavily in the early part of the week leading to lots of people being snowed in, their vehicles well and truly grounded and lots of services reduced or shut down fully. However it looked like normal service was almost resumed with the announcement that most schools were to re-open today.

It therefore took me by surprise that I waited 45 minutes for the bus this morning and that a usually 10 minute journey took half an hour. It was with less enthusiasm that I waited for another 45 minutes for the bus home.

As Central Scotland seems to be getting the brunt of the snow this week, The Public Weather Service Advisor stated:

- More snow, ice and cold temperatures for Scotland in the week ahead. However, following the signficant snow accumulations mainly across eastern parts of Scotland last week, we will see a return to a more 'business as usual', 'typical Scotland in winter' weather situation over the coming week.

- The snow showers will continue to mainly affect northern and northeastern Scotland into next week.

- The band of wintry showers pushing southwards during this evening and overnight is now forecast to pass more quickly, is expected to fall as rain or sleet on lower ground and is generally expected to give little fresh snow (1-3cm) on higher ground.

- Widespread Ice becomes the main risk for much of Scotland into next week. There will be a slight thawing of lying snow during the day (temperatures rising slightly above freezing for a few hours) but this will quickly freeze as darkness falls. This will increase the risk of black ice on roads and pavements, and icicle formation on buildings in towns and cities across Scotland.

Even then it looks like we are not totally out of the woods yet though. A weather briefing from the Met Office states the outlook to 18 December is as follows:

Risk of snow showers developing again across northern and eastern areas of the United Kingdom. Mainly dry elsewhere. Overnight frosts continuing. Daytime temperatures likely to recover enough to lead to gradual thaw of lying snow. Confidence in this scenario is moderate for temperature but low for detail on any further snow.