Coldest night since 1995 and chilliest February temperature since at least 1986 as mercury in the far north Highlands drops to -22C
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TEMPERATURES in the far north have plunged to a frigid -22C as Scotland recorded its coldest night since 1995.
Kinbrace in Sutherland was sitting at -22C on Thursday morning, and several other Sutherland locations were below -20C, according to Highlands and Islands Weather – only marginally higher than the -22.9C recorded by the Met Office at Braemar in Aberdeenshire.
The plunging mercury has sparked widespread disruption on the rail network, and police have also urged Highland motorists not to travel "unless you have to".
Issuing a plea before the morning commute, a spokesman for Police Scotland's northern division said: "It is exceptionally cold across the divisional area (-20.9C in Kinbrace, Sutherland!). Please do not travel unless you have to."
The also advised those who do have to travel, to make sure they keep updated on the conditions via the Met Office and Traffic Scotland.
Meanwhile, Network Rail Scotland engineers were being kept busy across the country after the icy weather caused points to freeze at numerous locations.
A spokesman said: "We're responding to a number of points failures across the network caused by the extremely low temperatures overnight. Our Integrated Control team are coordinating response teams in conjunction with our four delivery units at Perth, Motherwell, Glasgow and Edinburgh."
ScotRail has warned that this has led to cancellations, delays and revisions to services between Inverness and Edinburgh/Glasgow that will last until at least midday. There is also disruption on the Inverness-Aberdeen line between Elgin and Keith which is also expected to continue until midday.
A train fault on the Far North Line has also led to some journeys terminating or starting from Lairg.
ScotRail added: "The extreme cold has affected signalling systems across the network. We're currently unable to run trains south of Perth, to or from Glasgow Queen Street or Edinburgh Waverley. We're also unable to run trains to/from Glasgow Queen Street or Edinburgh Waverley."
They continued: "Our services between Elgin and Keith are subject to delays and/or alterations. You can use ScotRail tickets and Smartcards on Stagecoach North services between Aberdeen and Inverness on routes #10, #35 and #37 though Dyce and Insch are not covered I'm afraid."
For the latest updates visit www.scotrail.co.uk.
Meanwhile, Lee Schofield at Highlands and Islands Weather (@highlandweather on Twitter, and Highlands and Islands Weather on Facebook) has been busy updating followers on the falling temperatures at his numerous weather stations.
Posting just after 8am, he confirmed that Kinbrace had now fallen to -22.0C, while Rosehall (-20.2C) amd Altnaharra (-20.1C) had also dipped below -20C in Sutherland. Loch Migdale (-19.8C), Lairg (-19.3C) and Klibreck (-19.0C) were not far behind.
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