The Frozen North! Mercury could fall to -20C despite an end to heavy snow
The worst of Scotland's heavy snowfall appears to be over but the big freeze is set to continue this weekend with forecasters warning temperatures could plummet to as low as -20C tonight.
By CLAIRE ELLIOT FOR THE SCOTTISH DAILY MAIL
Published: 19:59 GMT, 8 January 2026 | Updated: 21:39 GMT, 8 January 2026
The worst of Scotland’s heavy snowfall appears to be over but the big freeze is set to continue this weekend with forecasters warning temperatures could plummet to as low as -20C tonight.
It comes after the coldest night of the year yesterday when the mercury dropped to -14.4C in Tomintoul, Banffshire – colder than parts of Siberia.
A yellow warning for snow and ice has again been extended until noon today for large parts of Scotland, including the north and north-east which remains under a blanket of white.
It is the eighth day in a row the country has been under a severe weather warning, with the first yellow alerts having been issued on New Year’s Eve.
Aberdeenshire Council became so overwhelmed with the relentless snowfall that it declared a major incident on Tuesday as it struggled to keep communities open.
Schools across the region remain closed for a fifth day in a row and efforts to keep roads open were ongoing yesterday after a fresh dump of snow added several more inches to the two feet that has already fallen in many areas.
The council said its primary network ‘took a fair hit from those snow levels after a strong clearing effort again’ the day before with its team or gritters and snowplough back out in force yesterday.
The latest weather alert warns that, while there will be less frequent snow showers, ice is expected to become a major issue for motorists and pedestrians with surfaces expected to refreeze overnight.
A low of -14.4C was recorded in Tomintoul last night - colder than parts of Siberia
The A939 between Grantown on Spey and Tomintoul
The A939 Cockbridge to Tomintoul road has been closed for more than a week
The freezing temperatures saw a section of the A74(M) motorway in Lanarkshire closed for several hours in both directions yesterday after Police Scotland was alerted to ‘multiple collisions’ due to icy conditions.
STV weatherman Sean Batty said a few computer models have even suggested thermometers could drop to as low as -20C, though he admitted that ‘would be extremely rare and very much at the lowest end of what’s possible’.
He added: ‘While that’s unlikely to be officially recorded by Met Office stations, it gives a sense of just how cold the air mass currently is.’
The Met Office said it was looking at temperatures of as low as -14C tomorrow before the mercury starts to rise on Sunday as milder air moves in from the west.
In comparison thermometers in Novosibirsk, the largest city in Siberia, Russia, were only expected to reach -13C tonight.