Driving through Frozen Scotland

January 3, 2010 · Filed Under Roads, Transport, Weather 

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When we arranged to spend Christmas week with relatives down south, we could never have expected the weather conditions to be as severe as they were.

It’s not just the roads that were bad: roads, rail links, and airports across the UK were disrupted or closed because of heavy snow and freezing temperatures.

Driving through blizzard conditions

I’ve already posted about the drive down here: Severe weather driving – but here are some photos of conditions driving down south through Scotland, and then back north through the Highlands again:

We set off on the 20th, and conditions were not favourable – snow on the ground and dark blizzard clouds roaring down from the north:

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The A9 was particularly bad, with traffic forced to follow tyre tracks in front, or risk skidding on the slush. Traffic flow was commonly around 20 mph in these conditions:

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And no over-taking!

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Still, the snow made everything look beautiful throughout the Highlands…

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…but snow storms and blizzards were always close at hand:

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Driving back north through Scotland

Luckily, we’d planned to stagger the journey both ways – staying at Moffat driving down, and at Stirling on the way up.

I spent much of the week in between keeping track of conditions, and it was worrying to read the A9 closed at least twice.

Setting back north, though, and Cumbria was especially beautiful to see, and South Lanarkshire gave us a taste of things to come as the car read an outside temperature of -9 C at one point.

Resuming from Stirling, we were greeted by clear skies, and Stirling as ever looked beautiful – here’s looking out to where the Breadlebane mountains separate the lowlands of Scotland from the Highlands:

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However, temperatures plummeted both before and after Perth, reaching as low as -14 C, leaving the landscape frozen:

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Driving on through Perthshire and past Pitlochry always gives breathtaking views in any conditions, with the sharp mountain cliffs and marauding pine forests:

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Even better, the roads remained relatively clear:

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The biggest problem through much of the drive was the windscreen washer fluid nozzles freezing up, resulting in poor visibility, especially when a passing lorry splashed slush at the car. Luckily, it would freeze very quickly and the wipers could easily remove the ice. Even still, we had to stop once to spray on the de-icer:

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The Cairngorms were like an eerie lunar landscape…

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…but once we’d crossed them, freezing fog moved in:

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The roads got worse towards Aviemore, with slush re-appearing in force and never truly clearing again towards Inverness, or on the A96 to Nairn.

While overtaking lanes were generally clear, any driver daring to use them could be confronted by sheets of icy slush without warning.

Sometimes the reverse would happen, and only the overtaking lane would be clear, with the slow lane covered in snow or icy slush:

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The final stretch to Inverness was a very welcome view…

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…but not as welcome as arriving home. :)

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Comments

6 Responses to “Driving through Frozen Scotland”

  1. Bill (Scotland) on January 3rd, 2010 10:38 pm

    I’m glad you got back home safely :)

    Happy New Year, too!

  2. Brian Turner on January 4th, 2010 9:39 am

    It was good to be home. :)

  3. Brian Turner on January 7th, 2010 8:02 pm

    Some decent tips from the BBC on snow driving:
    http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/8443690.stm

    Personally I’m leaving the car and just walking when I need to go anywhere local – had my fill of driving in ice and snow for a while. :)

  4. Allen on January 21st, 2010 5:59 am

    Brilliant
    Been there, seen it, done it,
    Ill bet your shoulders and arms were like lead balloons by the time you got home.
    Well done the photos are great

  5. Brian Turner on January 21st, 2010 9:28 am

    All I remember is wanting to relax afterwards. :)

  6. margaret valentine on February 6th, 2010 12:42 pm

    My daughter is the driver but we travel to nairn each year for our holidays usually in May however we have gone out for a days run and found scenery like your pics thanks for the memory

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