Rona Dougall: We all love a winter wonderland with snow falling but a cold future is chilling

What a week weather wise. Pity the poor residents of Shetland who lost power as snow engulfed the island, with one energy company describing conditions as the worst they’d seen in 20 years. This winter has been hard enough so far without the extreme low temperatures we’ve seen.

I was initially delighted when the snow first started falling last weekend. It’s always the first reaction isn’t it, a childlike wonder at the beauty of it all? But that doesn’t last long as you start to worry about the logistics of getting around and how the central heating bill is going to be terrifyingly expensive. Even with the heating on, the pipes still managed to freeze.

Oh, to be a carefree kid again, to relish it all rather than worrying about how you’re going to get the car to the end of the street. And is it just an age thing, but I do fret about slipping on the pavement now in a way I never used to.

As I was defrosting the car one morning with numb fingers, I contemplated leaving the engine running and retreating to the relative warmth of the house. But the alleged urban myth that thieves are lurking nearby ready to steal my clapped-out Peugeot always stops me doing that.

Turns out it’s not a myth, two people had their cars stolen in Edinburgh this week doing just that.

I did manage a trip up the Pentlands outside the capital and the views were breathtaking. Deep, deep snow transformed the hills into a glittering alpine wonderland, with the sun glistening on the frosty trees. But we are paying the price for these picture postcard scenes. These very low temperatures are a worrying sign of climate change. STV weather presenter Sean Batty told me that there was a 55-degree difference in temperature between the hottest days of summer and the bitingly cold days we’ve been experiencing.

The coldest weather last night was in central and southern Scotland with -11.7C recorded in Drumalbin, just south of Lanark, and -10.9C at Bishopton in Renfrewshire. Cold continues… pic.twitter.com/QucjCL3DGk

— Sean Batty (@SeanBattyTV) December 14, 2022

We are on course to have the coldest December on record. These extremes are generally seen in countries like Canada or Russia, but this will become our new normal. A very clear indication that the damage we’re doing to the planet has physical consequences. And remember we’ve had the wettest October and wettest November in some areas as well. Our weather is going to get a lot more volatile in the future. It’s incredibly worrying.

There’s not much to do when it’s as cold as this other than coorie in and ride it out. I’ve always been against the idea of electric blankets, imagining them somehow to be dangerous. I know, I don’t know what I was thinking. Honestly, the pleasure I have denied myself, I could weep. Anyway, my husband defied my orders and bought one. Transformational. I may never leave my bed again.

And you can now buy electric ponchos which do exactly what they say on the tin. I have to get one of those too, although at the moment they’re totally sold out and you can’t get hold of one for love nor money. And I know because I’ve been trying.

Here in Scotland we have a resigned acceptance to these Baltic conditions, even a sense of humour. I mean look at how we name our snow ploughs: Calvin Harr-ice, William Wall-ice and Charles Rennie Mackinslush to name but a few. Well, if you can’t laugh, all is lost.

Down south, they seem altogether less stoical. One witty Scot on Twitter was absolutely scathing about a group of drivers who’d abandoned their cars and spent the night in a pub in Yorkshire when there was the merest sprinkling of the white stuff on the road outside. There was more icing on his child’s birthday cake, he observed.

The good news is that according to my weather expert, there’s a fairly good chance of a white Christmas. I might even emerge from under my leccy blanket.