Winter weather problems in Scotland

The weather is a daily topic for discussion for most people and the last month has seen some extreme weather in Scotland, giving a bit more fuel to the weather discussions. The Meteorological Office has confirmed that December was the wettest ever month in Scotland since records began and overall temperatures were 1.5C above the 1961-1990 average. 2006 was also the warmest since the temperature series began in 1914. In Glasgow, nearly 200mm of rain had fallen in the first two weeks of December, when the average for the whole month is around 133mm. While the east of the country had a record for sunshine with 90 hours, double the normal monthly average for December. The Met Office issued a press release predicting that 2007 will probably be the warmest year yet.

Because of heavy winds and torrential rain Hogmanay street parties in Edinburgh, Glasgow and Stirling all had to be cancelled due to high winds and torrential rain. Three years ago, the event was called off at the last minute for similar reasons. The celebrations in Aberdeen, Inverness and Dundee did go ahead, however, despite the bad weather. The cancellation of the world-famous Hogmanay party in the Capital, involving an expected 100,000 people, made the headlines.

The strong winds on New Year's Eve did more than cause the cancellation of the Hogmanay celebrations around the country. 26,000 homes had their electricity cut off as gale force winds blew down trees and damaged electricity sub-stations. Despite efforts by engineers overnight and on New Year's Day, 2,500 were still without power 24 hours later.