After days of being battered by strong winds, parts of Aberdeenshire, Moray and the Highlands have been warned to brace for snow.
The latest Met Office forecast shows an active cold front moving in from the Western Isles and north-west coast from tonight.
Wintry weather and strong wind is due to start sweeping in from the early evening before falling over high ground in the Highlands on the mainland overnight.
However, early morning motorists have been warned to expect widespread snow in Aberdeenshire, the Highlands and Moray on Friday morning amidst a yellow weather warning for ice.
Where is it going to snow?
Latest Met Office radar images show widespread snow across the Highlands, Moray, Orkney and large parts of Aberdeenshire on Friday morning – with only the east coast appearing to avoid the white stuff.
Forecasts suggest the far north of the mainland and the west coast will receive the most with smaller amounts on lower ground in the Inverness and Elgin areas.
Met Office meteorologist Aidan McGivern said: “Colder air pushes in from the north-west (on Friday morning), temperatures drop away, with a frost in northern parts of the UK and wintry showers forming across Scotland.
Want to know what the weather has in store for us over the next 10 days? 🌦️ 💨❄️ Here's Aidan with all the details… 👇 pic.twitter.com/bXXsocpoXp
— Met Office (@metoffice) February 2, 2022
“Snow even to lower levels in northern Scotland, accumulating significantly on the Highlands and Grampians.
“Fast forward to Friday afternoon and we are all in that showery north-westerly airflow and that means frequent wintry showers – snow, sleet, hail for northern parts of the UK, particularly over hills.
“But there will be some sunshine in the east and south, where showers will largely be avoided.”
The Met Office has issued a yellow weather warning for ice encompassing all of the Highlands and the west coast as far south as Glasgow.
The warning for cold temperatures is effecting from midnight on Friday morning until 11am the same day.
Expected temperatures at 8am on Friday
- Aberdeen: 1C
- Elgin: 1C
- Inverness: 2C
- Peterhead: 1C
- Braemar: -1C
- Fort William: 3C
- Stornoway: 2C
- Kirkwall: 2C
- Lerwick: 2C
Will the winter weather last?
Wet and windy weather is due to sweep across the Highlands, Aberdeenshire and Moray on Saturday and the rest of the weekend.
However, warmer temperatures will lead to the snow turning to rain in the north and north-east.
Forecasts show temperatures are expected to rise back to 8C in Aberdeen on Saturday with 7C due in Elgin and Inverness and 6C in Thurso.
Sunday is expected to be predominantly bright across the north and north-east with some blustery showers.