Huge swathes of the country will be hit by wintry storms tomorrow with temperatures expected to plunge to -15C.

Sleet, ice and frost is forecast across the UK from tomorrow with warnings to expect rush hour mayhem.

Showers are forecast as far south as London, Kent and the west country as a bitter Arctic plunge sends thermometers nosediving.


Forecasters warn to expect thunder and further hail showers with the extreme cold expected to last through the weekend.


Severe weather threatens chaos on roads and transport networks as experts urge people to keep an eye on elderly neighbours.


Scotland and the far north is in the firing line for the coldest conditions although the mercury will dip below freezing nationwide.


It will be the coldest snap for more than a year with the mercury expected to dip lower than the -13.7C (7F) recorded in Scotland last January.


Tomorrow will feel much colder with lows of freezing or below forecast across Britain as bitter winds arrive from the North Pole.


Leon Brown, forecaster for The Weather Channel UK, said: "Wednesday morning will start bright and icy with temperatures near 0C over central and southern areas and as low as -6C (21F) in Scotland.


"Showery rain, sleet and hill snow will spread from the west through Wednesday and Wednesday night.
"

On Friday a there will be a widespread early frost and it will be icy with temperatures dipping to -7C (19F) northern England, -9C (16F) central Scotland and around -1C (30F) central England.


"The cold snap will last until the beginning of next week with dry and frosty weather this weekend, next week starts cold, dry and frosty."

The Met Office has issued a level-2 cold weather alert triggered with is an increased health risk to elderly and vulnerable people.


It warns of of "severe cold weather with icy conditions and wintry showers" as an Arctic air mass spills into the UK.


Met Office spokeswoman Linsday Mears said: "Bands of rain will turn to snow over eastern parts and in Scotland into Wednesday morning.


"We are looking at widespread fronts with more snow falling to lower ground and snow possible in the south on Thursday carrying on cold into the weekend.


"We could see low temperatures in minus double figures in the north and exposed regions."


Experts have warned elderly people to take extra care over the next few days as extreme cold weather can be deadly.


Malcolm Booth, chief executive at the National Federation of Occupational Pensioners, said: "This will be the first cold snap of the year and people could have a false sense of security.


"We need to be vigilant with elderly friends and neighbours who might not be prepared for the cold conditions.

"Sudden changes in weather increases the risk of people dying from the effects of the cold and also brings a risk of falls."


James Madden, forecaster for Exacta Weather, said thermometers are about to plunge below -10C (14F) with much of the country in for snow.


He said the first widespread showers will set in tomorrow with several inches expected to gather over high ground.


He said: "Temperatures could also lean towards -10C or lower in parts of the north.


"A wide swathe of snow showers breaking out across many parts of the country.


"Later on Wednesday and through to the weekend will see a number of widespread snow events hitting the country with notable accumulations in the north, west, east and central parts.
"

"The main bulk of the snow and the risk of widespread disruption is likely to come throughout Wednesday and into Thursday."


Gritters are out in forces as local authorities assure the nation they are prepared for anything the weather throws at them.


Councils have stockpiled 1.2 million tonnes of salt to keep traffic moving on the roads in the coming days.


Local Government Association (LGA) environment spokesman Cllr Peter Box said: "Councils are fully prepared to protect residents and minimise disruption to their residents caused by the drop in temperatures.


"We are well prepared for the cold with 1.2 million tonnes of salt stockpiled and a fleet of state-of-the-art gritters ready to be deployed.


"As well as gritting our roads and clearing snow, council teams are ready to be drafted in to help provide a variety of services to ensure we are looking out for the more vulnerable members of our communities."


Charts show lows of -15C in the north tomorrow with thermometers dropping to freezing and below elsewhere.


Quelle: Scotland Now

In Deutschland kommen wir da auch noch hin.

The coldest night of the winter hit the UK on Monday after temperatures plunged in Scotland.

The Met Office recorded minus 12C (10.4F) at Kinbrace in Sutherland - the coldest measurement of the winter so far

In England, the temperature hit minus 8.2C (17.2F) in Benson, Oxfordshire, and even as far south as Odiham, Hampshire, minus 6.5C (20.3F) was recorded.

Sleet and light snow on high ground in Scotland are likely, along with a few wintry showers expected for northern parts.

Skies are expected to clear on Tuesday evening from the south where gardeners were warned of a hard frost, while freezing fog could affect travel.

More weather warnings are expected to be put in place on Tuesday night in preparation for more ice and fog on Wednesday morning.

Towards the end of the week, temperatures are expected to warm up slightly as less cold air edges in, bringing rain with it.

Met Office forecaster Lindsay Mears said: “People should be aware that wet surfaces and existing snowfall on the ground will turn to ice in most places overnight.

“There is a yellow weather warning across parts of Scotland as temperatures drop.”

The warning covers large sections of southern Scotland. It also issued snow warnings for the Strathclyde and the central, Tayside and Fife area.

Mountainous areas saw temperatures plummet to below -10C.

Glasgow dropped to -5C, with Aberdeen at -3C, Edinburgh at -2C and Inverness -1C.

The forecast for tonight with see patchy drizzle along western fringes of Scotland. Elsewhere, a dry and fairly chilly night for many.

Mist and fog patches may form in prone areas but likely to be cold where skies become clear, meaning a local frost may form.

A locally frosty start tomorrow with areas of fog slow to lift, especially in northern Scotland where it may linger all day.

The outlook for the rest of the week will see it dry in eastern areas on Thursday with sunny spells, but turning cloudy in western areas with the odd spot of rain or drizzle.

Rain will push across the country on Friday and will be followed by scattered showers that will affect mainly northern areas.

Lindsay Mears added: “The week ahead will continue to be cold and frosty, with temperatures falling below zero.

“We are currently getting Scandinavian conditions, but towards the end of the week it will get milder. An Atlantic low coming in from the west will bring in milder air and temperatures will rise, providing a respite from the very cold weather.”

Quelle: The Scotsman

NESSIE’S underwater hideaway may have been found in her Highland home of Loch Ness by a former fisherman who has sonically mapped the depths of the world’s seas.

But his exciting discovery may also raise questions about how deep world famous Loch Ness really is.

Britain’s deepest loch is Loch Morar, allegedly home to another elusive ‘water kelpie’ Morag at 1017 feet.

Previously, the UK’s second largest loch, Loch Ness, was measured at 813 feet deep.

But 43 year old tourist sightseeing vessel skipper Keith Stewart has found a crevice about nine miles east of Inverness and he has measured it with state of the art sonar equipment at 889 feet.

His colleagues in Jacobite Cruises, which operates sight seeing cruises down Loch Ness from Inverness, have now christened it ‘Keith’s Abyss’ and whetted his appetite to look for more mysteries the huge water expanse may harbour.

He said yesterday: “I wasn’t really a believer of the monster beforehand. But two weeks ago, I got a sonar image of what looked like a long object with a hump lying at the bottom. It wasn’t there when I scanned the loch bed later.

“That intrigued me and then I found this dark shape about half way between the Clansman Hotel and Drumnadrochit which transpired to be a crevice or trench. I measured it with our state of the art 3d equipment at 889 feet, which is 77 feet deeper than the previous recorded deepest point called Edwards’ Deep.

“I don’t yet know how long it is. But I have gone back several times over the abyss and I have verified my measurements. It gets deeper from 825 feet to the recorded depth.

“It is only about a few hundred yards offshore whereas previous sonar searches have traditionally been down the middle of the loch.

“Searches of the monster have also been in those areas as well as Urquhart Bay so maybe the local legends of underwater caves connecting Loch Ness to other lochs and perhaps even the water sof the east and west coast are true.

“Obviously it will need more research. But it is an intriguing prospect. It is possible that an underwater earthquake has opened this up in recent times because the Great Glen lies in a well known fault in the earth’s crust and tremors have been felt along it.

“I quit the sea and decided to look for something more sedate and being captain of the Jacobite vessle is something different and appealing to me.

“I started the job in March but now this discovery has made my job even more interesting.”

Gary Campbell, president of Loch Ness Monster Fan Club and Registrar of Sightings said: “This just adds another dimension - we thought the loch was 810 feet deep and just had a 20 foot diameter hole at the bottom. Now we’ve discovered a whole trench that makes the loch nearly 900 feet deep which is twice the depth of the North Sea.

“There could be more trenches which make it deeper. This looks like where Nessie and her whole family could really hide out and explain why they are rarely seen.

“Remember, Loch Ness is part of a huge earthquake fault line that runs from Canada to Norway. In 2013, there was a 2.4 magnitude quake in the loch - this was when Nessie disappeared for a whole year for the first time since 1925. It could be that this massive tremor opened up the trench giving the monster a new hiding place

“This now needs real research. No-one has done any real at the Loch for over 10 years. Lets get a submarine down to properly investigate the new monster trench.

“This summer we hope someone will come to the loch with the best detection sonar in the world to examine down to the depths just to see what is really at the bottom of the loch.”

Quelle: The Scotsman

Halte ich für ein Gerücht.

SCIENTISTS believe the giant fish, which was discovered on the beach between Largs and Skelmorlie at the weekend, could have been the same one that was spotted weeks ago.

A BASKING shark which was found washed up in the shores of the Clyde may have been blown off course by recent storms, scientists have revealed.

Marine biologists believe the 20 foot fish, which was discovered by walkers on the beach between Largs and Skelmorlie in Ayrshire at the weekend, could have been the same one that was spotted close to the shore several weeks ago.

Dr Phillip Cowie, marine researcher at Field Studies Centre Millport, said: “It is very unusual to see a basking shark in Scotland at this time of year, and unusual ever to see them in such shallow waters because they really don’t like to be that close to the shore.

“We see them at the surface normally because they are feeding on large swarms of microscopic organisms that can collect in surface waters during periods of good sunlight and calm conditions.

“We had reports of seven basking sharks together in Ardrossan as late as October. But this one could have been disorientated by the storms. If not fully fit heavy swells and wave action could disorientate a shark.”

Basking sharks, the second largest fish in the sea after the whale shark, are a common sight off the coast of the western Highlands during the summer in Scotland.

But relatively little is known about the reclusive giants’ wintering and breeding habits.
Dr Cowie said: “There are a lot of unknowns about basking sharks, considering their size. But some tagging studies have found they go out to much deeper waters at this time of year, typically 150ft or more off the coast of Norway.”

He added that the increased presence of the sharks points to healthier waters off the coast of Scotland. The animals feed by swimming with their mouths open and sieving tiny zooplankton which they consume through massive filters.

Scientists think the increased population of large marine wildlife in the could be down to blooms of microscopic vegetative phytoplankton in the waters off the coast of Scotland, which the zooplankton feed on.

He added: “We have had higher numbers of basking shark and minke whale and we’ve even had hump back whales in these waters. It’s difficult to say for sure why, but something is changing. And people on the Clyde are becoming much more wildlife aware.”

North Ayrshire Council are expected to dispose of the carcass.

Quelle: Scotland Now

AROUND 600 people in Hawick and Jedburgh were forced to leave their properties after heavy rain swept in by Storm Jonas significantly raised river levels.

AROUND 600 people have been evacuated from homes in the Scottish Borders over renewed flooding fears.

Heavy rain swept in on Tuesday by Storm Jonas significantly raised river levels in the Borders leading to a series of school closures across the region.

After major flooding in December caused by Storm Desmond and Storm Frank, Borders Council decided to evacuate around 300 people from properties close to the banks of the River Teviot.

Overnight rain led to "severe" flood warnings from Sepa but the river level is thought to have peaked.

Police said routes around Hawick and Jedburgh have been badly affected by standing water and urged motorists to avoid driving in the areas if possible.

Firefighters had to rescue a bus driver caught in flood water on the B6405 near Hawick earlier.

A Borders Council spokesman said: "We opened the Emergency Planning Bunker at 8.30am this morning to deal with the impact of heavy rain on the area.

"A multi-agency team including the ourselves, Police Scotland and Scottish Fire and Rescue Service are co-ordinating the response to this ongoing incident.

"Due to rising river levels and risk to property, emergency rest centres have been established in Hawick and Jedburgh.

Residents in affected areas of both towns will be advised to evacuate by Police Scotland. They are welcome to attend the rest centres at Teviot Leisure Centre in Hawick and Jedburgh Town Hall."

Further rain is expected on Wednesday night with Met Office yellow warnings in place for Thursday and Friday.

The Met Office said: "Scattered, wintry showers are expected across Scotland this evening and overnight, and with road temperatures often falling below freezing there is the risk of some icy patches developing.

"These showers will also bring some snow accumulations above 150-200m, with some temporary wet snow to lower levels.

"Please be aware of the risk of some difficult driving conditions and localised disruption to travel."

Quelle: Scotland Now

Dreimal hintereinander so etwas. Nein.

SCOTLAND is set to get another hammering when Storm Henry sweeps in today, bringing treacherous conditions and high winds of up to 90mph.

Some train services in Scotland have already been suspended for this afternoon, leading to a potentially difficult evening commute for some, and ferry passengers have been warned to expect widespread disruption.

The latest trouble comes just after the country saw off Storm Gertrude, which brought gusts of more than 100mph in places as well as heavy rain and snow.

The Met Office has issued amber "be prepared" alerts for wind covering Scotland from 3pm on Monday until Tuesday morning.

Gusts of 70-80mph are now expected widely, while 90mph is possible in the most exposed areas, especially across the Western Isles and along the west coast.

Warnings for wind at the lesser yellow "be aware" level are also in place for the whole of the northern UK and Northern Ireland from Monday morning. And yellow alerts have been issued for rain in northern and central areas of Scotland.

The Met Office said: "Another rapidly deepening area of low pressure is expected to push quickly across the Atlantic and run close to the north of Scotland through Monday and into Tuesday. Some very strong west to southwesterly winds are expected to develop on the southern and western flanks of this low pressure system, affecting much of Scotland."

Forecasters cautioned that some very large waves are also expected, which may lead to localised flooding of coastal roads and causeways.

"Be prepared for some potentially severe conditions, causing transport disruption, some structural damage, difficult driving conditions and disruption to power supplies," they warned.

Quelle: Scotland Now

Das kann ja alles mögliche sein.

Genau. Das ist nur Gelaber.

FREEZING temperatures overnight have led to icy conditions on the roads and railways with yellow warnings of ice covering most of mainland UK.

PLUNGING temperatures have seen large parts of Scotland covered by warnings of ice.

A wet Wednesday gave way to clearing skies overnight, bringing freezing conditions ideal for a hard frost and icy patches, with motorists and commuters urged to take care when they get on the move.

The Met Office has issued two yellow warnings of ice and a yellow warning of snow that cover most of mainland UK and Northern Ireland and are due to stay in place until 10am on Thursday.

Rail operators warned of potential disruption to services and icy platforms, while forecaster Jenna MacGregor said road users should be on the lookout for "slippery surfaces".

She said: "We have a yellow warning for snow covering East Anglia and western parts of Lincolnshire and two ice warnings running on a diagonal from the South West up to Yorkshire in an area encompassing Wales and the Midlands.

"We have another ice warning covering West Scotland and Northern Ireland and they are all out until 10 o'clock.

"There is a band of rain that is moving eastwards that could bring some flurries of snow and sleet, but because that has been moving through overnight there could be some frost and icy patches on untreated roads when skies clear."

Temperatures in the warning zones are expected to drop to around freezing, dipping below to minus -1C (30.2F) in some places.

South West Trains advised customers to watch out for icy platforms and warned there could be disruption to services should ice build up on electric rails, although special deicer trains were working through the night to clear routes, a spokesman said.

The mercury has dipped in recent days, with some parts of the UK registering temperatures colder than Ukraine and Iceland.

Braemar in Aberdeenshire saw the lowest temperature in four years at the weekend when the mercury dropped to minus 14.1C (7F).

Quelle: Scotland Now