Scotland hit by snow in June days before summer solstice

Parts of Scotland awoke to distinctly wintry scenes on Wednesday as an arctic blast hit the country just days before the summer solstice.

The Met Office confirmed the arrival of a cold Arctic airmass covering much of the UK will see temperatures plummet below the seasonal average.

According to STV meteorologist Sean Batty, temperatures across Scotland are to hit lows of 1C in the northern Highlands.

“Snow on the mountain tops in early June is not uncommon, although still strange to see just days away from the summer solstice,” he said.

The summer solstice on June 20 marks the beginning of the warmer season.

The Mountain Weather Information Service (MWIS) said the Arctic wind was bringing a “significant chill factor”, where exposure to sustained speeds of 30mph will feel like -10C on the Munros.

While the colder spell is surprising for June, records have yet to be broken.

Summery conditions today. Didn’t expect to make snowballs in Barra this trip 🤣🤣☃️🥶 pic.twitter.com/vnTjN1y31Z

— BaskingSharkScotland (@BaskingSharkSco) June 5, 2024

Sean said Altnaharra hit a low of -5C in 1998, Balmoral -3C in 1964, Eskdalemuir -3C in 1962, Lerwick -1C in 1951 and Stornoway -1C in 1888.

Basking Shark Scotland, a company that runs boat tours, shared pictures of the surprising conditions on Wednesday morning.

One of their crew was able to make snowballs as their boat sailed through Barra.

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