Sceptical

I'll believe it when I see it.

Snowing and settling on the hills to the west of the house. Currently blustery showers 3c.

Yellow warnings issued for parts of Scotland, snow and ice Friday and Saturday.

Festive greetings! Found this on the Met website. A technical white Xmas for parts of the north "Helen continued: “As we begin Christmas Day wintry showers initially feeding in across the north in the colder air mass would technically make it a white Christmas, as we only need to see a single flake falling. Elsewhere, while it is likely at first to be mostly dry there is the potential for rain approaching from the west later on. As this moves east, we may see rain turning to snow, at least over high ground. It’s unlikely that we will see widespread or settling snow giving any proper accumulations. Although technically it might be a white Christmas, don’t get your hopes up for a picture-perfect white landscape."

Rain overnight has left the drive and road like an ice rinks. 4wd plus winter tyres and the car is sliding. Not going to attempt getting to work until daylight. Currently 3c and moderate rain. North facing 'ice rink Monday' as freeze hits roads WWW.BBC.CO.UK Several Met Office weather warnings are in place for large parts of the UK.

Real day after tomorrow stuff in Alford. Hang on I'll grab some pics

The Netweather winter 2023/24 LRF has been released. Worth a read!

Light wintry showers are turning the frozen hard surfaces into skating rinks. Yellow warnings for ice and snow today and tomorrow. Giving serious consideration to starting the festive break now.

Not as cold as yesterday morning, car display showing -5.5c, overcast and dry. The car sounded rough on start up, left the car to idle for 10 minutes before heading off. Still didn't sound great and the EMS light kicked in a couple of times. The paddlocks for the firewood sheds are frozen along with one the entrance doors to the house. A pretty impressive cold start winter.

The perfect day for hillwalking, or so I thought. The north side of the hills are frozen solid, very icy in places while other sections are like jagged concrete. A rather painful ascent. A few pics from on the way up and a video showing the higher hills to the west and the north. You might need to zoom in on the video a bit. 20231202_115154.mp4

Here you go:

The -15c has happened sooner than I thought:

Looking like a cold and bright day incoming. 20231202_075318.mp4

I think Braemar hit -17c during the cold spell last December. Regardless, winter 2023 has certainly made an impact so far.

Nowhere near as cold as further inland from here but definitely the coldest night of the season so far.

Conditions are perfect in parts of Scotland for low temperatures over the weekend. I suspect a -15c is on the cards.

The weather station at Corgarff Aberdeenshire was reporting -13c a short time ago.

Corgarff Aberdeenshire hit -13c 30 minutes ago.

Meteorological winter is underway and starts on a cold note. Further snow showers overnight, temperature at work coldest of the week so far.

Guidance on installing a temperature sensor. Complete drama. Official NWS regulations on siting temperature and precipitation sensors Temperature sensors The sensor should be 4 to 6 feet, preferably 5 feet, above the ground. The ground over which the radiation shield is located should be typical of the surrounding area. Do not install the sensor on a steep slope or in a sheltered hollow unless it is typical of the area or unless data from that type of site is desired. The shield should be no closer than four times the height of any obstruction (tree, fence, building, etc.) The sensor should be at least 100 feet from any paved or concrete surface

Parts of Scotland should see -10c, or lower, this weekend.

Over the weekend should see the lowest temperatures of the season so far. Best chance of seeing a white Xmas this year, according to the bookies, Edinburgh and Newcastle.

Snow overnight has covered the hard surfaces, temperature, according to the car -0.5c. Once clear of the Vale of Alford light rain and 1c.

Coldest November night in 13 years for parts of UK WWW.BBC.CO.UK Temperatures dropped to well below freezing across the UK, as snow fell in Scotland and east England. By way of comparison, the coldest November temperature was set on 14-11-1919 when Braemar hit -23.3c.

Couple of pics before the daily commute.