Diary of Highlights

1st to 9th
An unsettled start to January with a mixture of bright, sunny or clear spells and showers. As various fronts tracked eastwards the showery weather was interrupted by spells of rain. The 1st and the 4th were windy, with 62 m.p.h. being recorded at Machrihanish. A touch of ground frost lead to icy conditions on the 8th, with Aboyne recording a temperature of -1.7 °C. Cloud and rain spread northeast on the 8th, this rain was heaviest in the southwest. Rain continued overnight and at Eskdalemuir, 28 mm fell in the 12 hours to 0900 UTC on the 9th.

10th to 13th
TThe 10th to 15th was a very wet and windy spell. On 10th, heavy showers affected the north during the morning with snow on hills, but mainly dry elsewhere. Heavy rain and gale to severe gale southerly winds edged in from the West Coast during the evening. Blustery showers and severe gales on the 11th, with gusts of 79 m.p.h. at Islay and 77 mph at Lerwick. On the 12th, temperatures reached 15 °C in Aberdeen, winds gusted to 89 m.p.h. at Lerwick and around 50 mm of rain fell at Tyndrum. More rain in the west on the 13th with drier, brighter, conditions in the east, but still windy with gales in places.

14th to 15th
Cloudy on the 14th with rain, heavy at times, with 33 mm being recorded at Tyndrum. Brighter or clearer to the lee of the mountains, where there was a ground frost around dawn. Windy, at times, with strong winds or gales, severe at times with gusts to 72 m.p.h. at Wick during the early morning and 69 m.p.h. at Inverbervie during the evening. Very windy again on the 15th with severe gales across the northwest and Northern Isles, gusts to 83 m.p.h. at Sella Ness and 80 m.p.h. at Lerwick. A waving cold front brought heavy rain to the Isles and the western hills, with 45 mm at Cassley, 43 mm at Lusa (Skye) and 36 mm at Tulloch Bridge. The front eventually pushed southeast and weakened introducing wintry showers across the northwest with a lighter north-westerly wind.

16th to 20th
Frosty over much of the country during the morning and evening of the 16th, with light rain, sleet and snow pushing into central and southern parts during the evening. Wintry showers developing on the 17th, although the northeast stayed mainly dry. Rain spreading north on the 18th, soon turned to snow causing morning rush-hour problems in the Central Belt and the Southern Highlands. Windy for a time in the south with a gust to 70 m.p.h. at Dundrennan. The 19th was bright with showers, before more persistent rain spread northeast later, with snow on northern high ground. Gales returned to the south by midnight, with westerly winds reaching severe gale strength by dawn on 20th. Gusts 60 to 65 m.p.h. in many places with 75 m.p.h. recorded at Rosehearty.

15th to 20th
Then a more settled spell of weather developed from the 15th with just a few showers in north and west. Similar on 16th, then mainly dry on 17th and 18th with an early frost. On the 19th cloudy conditions prevailed to the north and west of the Great Glen and at times through the Central Lowlands with occasional rain across Shetland. Across much of the northeast and the south, bright, sunny or clear spells and a widespread frost. The 20th was again mainly dry and bright with a frost early and late.

21st to 25th
From the 21st to the 25th a wintry spell of weather covered parts of Scotland with some heavy snow across high ground, but also to lower levels too. The morning of the 25th was particularly frosty with Dalwhinnie dipping down to -7.1 °C. On the 25th, cloud and patchy drizzle in the northwest slowly pushed across the country, though many eastern areas remained dry.

26th to 31st
From the 26th the weather was characterised by cloudy conditions, more so across the north and west. There was also rain at times, this becoming heavy and prolonged across the West Highlands from the 29th to the 31st. Occasional colder intrusions were experienced in the north, but on the whole the weather was mild with the best of the sunshine to be found to the east of the mountains. A temperature of 13 °C was recorded at Leuchars on the 28th and 14 °C at Dyce on the 31st. Windy, at times, with gusts to 60 m.p.h. at Kirkwall on the 28th and 70 m.p.h. at Lerwick on the 29th.

Statistical details

Scotland Mean Temperature Series (series began in 1914).			The provisional value for the month was 4.7 °C			2.6°C above the 1961-1990 average, which is in the exceptionally above average category.
Scotland Rainfall Series (series began in 1914).			The provisional total for the month was 234.6 mm			151% of the 1961-1990 average, which is in the well above average category.
Scotland Sunshine Series (series began in 1929).			The provisional total for the month was 36.8 hours			106 % of the 1961-1990 average, which is in the close to average category.