Play suspended at Old Course after St Andrews covered in hailstones in first days of summer

Play was suspended at the famous Old Course at St Andrews after it was blanketed by hailstones on Tuesday.

Images shared by St Andrews Links showed the “four seasons in a day” that the course saw as sunshine was followed by hail.

The course was blanketed by hailstones, with play suspended around 6pm.

St Andrews will host The Open for the 31st time in 2027, five years on from Cameron Smith triumphing in a historic Championship played in front of record crowds.

St Andrews course battered by hail St Andrews Links

It comes after a village in Aberdeenshire was blanketed with hailstones just days into the start of summer.

Residents of Old Meldrum experienced three seasons in one day on Tuesday, with locals reporting being hit with thunder, rain, wind and sun.

Videos shared on social media showed roads and cars covered in white as hailstones battered the area.

According to STV meteorologist Sean Batty, hailstones during the warmer months are actually more common than you would think.

North East & Tayside

Scots village blanketed with hailstones just days into summer

Streets in the village of Old Meldrum were covered in white after a flurry of hailstones on Tuesday

As the clouds that bring hail are driven by heat rising from the ground – something far more intense in June than in winter – they can grow much larger and reach much higher into the atmosphere.

“In the summer, these clouds extend higher into very cold air”, Sean explains.

“Today, for example, it’s +14C on the ground, but the tops of the clouds are around -20C.

“The strong updraughts of warm air coming from the ground force water droplets high up into the cloud, which then freeze on contact with ice particles high up in the cloud.”