Wild and wintery weather

The last two or three days have seen a blast of cold air from the arctic and the disappearance of those mild sunny days and lovely autumn colours of my last two posts.

There was a hint of this in Aberdeen on Friday. After a brief shopping trip, we headed to the sea front to drive along the esplanade as we like to do. Looking east as we drove all seemed relatively peaceful if cold.

Then we stopped, parked and got out of the car hoping to walk a little along the sea front. Before that, we turned to look west at the outline of the city only and were met by a sudden blast of ice cold wind and sleet and these dramatic clouds. 

Yesterday we drove inland along the Dee Valley, heading for Braemar and beyond. It was cold and sunny and there was a very slight suggestion of something icy on our lawn. We should have guessed what was in store for us. As we drove, the snow gradually increased until in some places it was covering the road and the trees were weighed down with it. 

By the time we reached Braemar, the temperature was 0*C and roads were slippery. While this is not cold by the standard of many places, for Scotland at the end of October, it is exceptional. We are never here in the winter so for us this was a rare and beautiful treat. The town looked enchanting. 

We then drove a little way out of town and towards the Devil’s Elbow (a pass over the mountains). This had been closed earlier in the day but was now open and allowed us to see the snow covered mountains from higher up. Again, it was beautiful.

I have always wanted to see this area that I love so much covered in snow so this has been a real treat. The most extraordinary thing about what we saw (perhaps not shown to best advantage in these photos) is the fact that so many of the trees were still in autumn leaf.  This gave the slightly eerie feeling of being in two seasons at once - and beautiful colour combinations, usually not seen.