A stubborn ridge of high pressure will throw Scotland’s wintry weather into reverse with sunny and dry weather expected for the next fortnight.
Scots have recently been on the wrong end of winds from the Arctic, which have delivered low temperatures for the time of year and snow down to low levels. Yesterday the sun, snow and hail combined briefly for a twist on an April shower. Social media users shared pictures and video of the perplexing precipitation.
Geoff Barton, 60, professor of bioinformatics and head of computational biology at the University of Dundee, tweeted his shock. “OK so we’ve had fabulous sunshine, then snow, then sunshine again. And now? Both together!” he tweeted.
This week carries the widespread risk of morning frosts. But according to the Met Office, the wintry showers in the north last night signal the end of any unsettled weather — and the picture is looking good for the next few weeks.
Simon Partridge, of the Met Office, said: “Things are looking sunny, dry and settled for the next fortnight. It’s not often you can say that about Scotland’s weather.
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“It looks as though we are going to go from one extreme to another.
“At the moment high pressure is sitting out to the west of us. Northerly Arctic winds will drift east through the week, replaced by warmer westerly or southerly winds.
“Things will therefore begin to warm up over the next few days and by Wednesday, we should see temperatures of between 10C and 12C. That’s just slightly up on the average for April.”
The weekend saw a mix of sunshine and snow showers, even down to the central belt. Yesterday morning saw a bitterly cold minus 8.3C at Tulloch Bridge in Inverness-shire, almost equalling the coldest spot in the UK, in Cumbria.
The sun is now at the same height it would be at in late August or early September.
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The BBC weather service indicates the benign conditions should remain over all of Scotland up to April 26.
Partridge added: “We will see weather systems trying to move in from the northwest but all our forecasting models show them being directed away, up towards Iceland.
“Things are not looking too bad at all. At the moment, the high pressure keeping us dry and sunny looks as if it has no intention of going anywhere. “As a result, most of the models agree things are looking very promising for the next couple of weeks at least.”