Well, it’s official. According to figures released by the Met Office the UK winter has been the coldest for more than 30 years. It doesn’t surprise me, I can’t recall such a long and intense period of cold, and snow, in my lifetime.

I’ve lived in the Cairngorms area since 1977 and I do remember some cracking winters in the late seventies and early eighties, but I don’t seem to recall such intensity in the cold. Here in Newtonmore the last few nights have all been below minus ten, with a minus twelve last night. Such cold temperatures used to be one-off occurrences.

Apparently the mean UK temperature was 1.5C (34.7F), the lowest since 1978/79 when it was 1.2C (34.16F), the weather forecasters have said. The mean is calculated by taking the average of the daytime maximum temperature and night-time minimum over a 24-hour period.

Not surprisingly Scotland has experienced the lowest temperatures, with overnight temperatures falling as low as minus 22.3C (minus 8.14F) at Altnaharra, Highland - the lowest UK minimum since 1995, the Met Office said. In England the average winter temperature has been 2.4C (36.3F), the lowest average since 1978/9.

And it’s not over yet. Indeed I’m now becoming slightly concerned about this year’s TGO Challenge. My own route will involve a two-day crossing of the Monadh Liath and I’m beginning to suspect I’ll have to carry an ice axe and crampons. Certainly anyone considering a walk over the high Cairngorms would be well advised to carry winter gear. I suspect there will be snow on the Cairn Gorm plateaux all summer. The amount of snow up there really is astonishing, but the curious thing is once you go south of Drumochter the snow levels are pretty average for the time of year. It looks as though the Cairngorms has really taken the brunt of the winter, which at least keeps the skiers happy and puts some dosh into the coffers of the Cairn Gorm Railway Co - for better or worse!

I’ll start posting some thoughts on the TGO Challenge shortly, but for the moment here are a few pictures to remind you folk in the balmy south what a real winter is like!

Inshriach Forest in December

Sgairneach Mor in Drumochter in February

Carn Elrig in Rothiemurchus in January

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