Diary of Highlights

1st to 6th
On the first two days low pressure moved southeast from the Atlantic to the English Channel. Mild and humid air of southerly origin covered Scotland and it was cloudy with outbreaks of rain.

The low pressure moved slowly across the North Sea between the 3rd and 6th, with light winds over Scotland veering from east to north. The weather was mostly cloudy but outbreaks of rain in the east were replaced by sunny periods in the west and south later.

7th to 8th
Fronts from the Atlantic approached slowly from the southwest on the 7th and 8th. It was cloudy in the southwest with 30 mm of rain at Port Ellen on Islay on the 7th. It stayed fine in the northeast with the temperature falling to -6 °C at Altnaharra.

9th to 11th
High pressure developed over Europe from the 9th to the 11th, warm and humid south-westerly winds covered Scotland. Maximum temperatures of 14 °C were reached at various locations on all three days, and on the 11th minima of 11 °C were widely reported.

12th to 15th
Between the 12th and 15th the anticyclone retreated west to the mid-Atlantic and a north-westerly airstream affected Scotland. This brought mostly cloudy weather with outbreaks of rain to the northwest, but some sunny intervals to the southeast. On the 14th winds gusted to 69 mph at Sella Ness on Shetland.

16th to 17th

On the 16th and 17th winds of Arctic origin spread south across Scotland, bringing sunny periods to the south and wintry showers to the north. By the morning of the 18th the temperature had fallen to -9 °C at Aboyne.

18th to 25th

A large anticyclone was centred over France from the 18th to the 24th and changeable, mostly mild and benign, westerly weather affected Scotland. However, winds gusted to 74 mph at Sella Ness on the 21st.

By Christmas Eve the anticyclone transferred to Scotland and then moved towards Siberia while maintaining a ridge to Scotland. Sunny weather with fog patches and night frost prevailed on Christmas Day.

26th to 29th

Between the 26th and 29th some snow showers affected the east but it remained fine in most places, although very cold with the temperature falling to -13 °C at Aviemore.

30th to 31st

An Atlantic depression pushed fronts across the country on the 30th, accompanied by a period of snow and rain and followed by milder, showery conditions.

Scotland Mean Temperature Series (series began in 1914).			The initial value for the month was 3.7 °C			0.9 °C above the 1961-1990 average, which is in the above average category.
Scotland Rainfall Series (series began in 1914).			The total for the month was 97.1 mm			62 % of the 1961-1990 average, which is in the below category.
Scotland Sunshine Series (series began in 1929).			The total for the month was 33.1 hours.			111% of the 1961-1990 average, which is in the above average category.