Blizzard!

6.30 a.m. Heavy wet snow is blasting past the windows. The land outside is white, a reversion to the winter. A journey to Aviemore in driving snow, roads wet and slippery, mostly snow free but patches on bends cause the tyres to slide slightly. Aviemore station snow and windswept but the train is on time and the family head off south, perhaps to warmer and sunnier weather. In a café I stare out at the steady snow and people walking fast, heads down, hoods up, shoulders hunched. Then home, the roads a little whiter now, the snow a little heavier, the visibility a little less. The snow is drifting in the gusting wind, a foot deep in places by mid-afternoon. Light fire, cut more firewood, decide the weather is best viewed from inside the house. Twelve hours after I first looked out at the blizzard and the snow has not eased for even a second. Still it drives across the land, a hazy white sweep of snow blurring and softening the fields and woods. The forecast is for it to continue overnight, perhaps becoming even heavier. The Met Office has issued a flash warning for severe blizzards and very heavy snow – perhaps 30 centimetres with big drifts. “Roads are liable to become impassable and some interruptions to power supplies are possible.” In the mountains the winds are forecast to reach 80mph. Whilst probably not as severe as now the cold snowy weather will continue for the rest of the week and into the weekend. Easter will be tough in the hills. The winter is not yet over.

Photo info: Strathspey in the snow, just outside my house, March 30, 2010. Canon EOS 450D, Canon 18-55 IS@30mm, 1/640@ f5.6, ISO 100, raw file converted to JPEG in Lightroom 2.6