June is just days away and with it the start of the British summer. But part of the Highlands saw snow yesterday as Scotland shivered its way through the coldest May for 25 years.
Visitors to the Cairngorm National Park at Aviemore awoke to find a blanket of snow. Brothers Nick and Patrick Matheson from Northumbria were heading to the hills for a bit of skiing.
Nick said: “We have been coming here since the 1980s and I can’t ever remember there being this much snow in May.
“We got a shock when we opened our campervan door this morning.”
Patrick added: “It’s a long walk up the hill but the ski back down will definitely make it worthwhile.”
So far this month, the average temperature has been 10.7C. The last time it was this cold was in 1996 and before that, in 1983, the maximum temperature for the whole of May was only 10.8C.
Sarah Kent, of the Met Office, said: “Not only has it been a cold May, it has been a cold spring generally. The wind has routinely been coming from the north, which is always a cold direction,” she continued.
We have only enjoyed 81.4 hours of sunshine, compared to 211.5 hours in April.
Kent said there is more heavy rain arriving today. She added: “It could be very wet later on Sunday, into Monday. Frontal systems are coming into Scotland later on Sunday afternoon.”
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