SATURDAY 22nd JANUARY----EVENING

UPDATE @ 1630Hrs
The most surprising feature of today's weather was that there was virtually unbroken sunshine. That certainly wasn't the case in all parts of the region, so Pitlochry was lucky. However, this didn't help to lift temperatures very much .Frost seems to have survived in the shadows & maximum temperatures only reached 3.7. By 1630, the thermometer was down to 0.7.


THIS EVENING & TONIGHT
Some cloud around, but also clear spells & as a consequence, patches of mist & fog, together with a moderate frost are expected. The minimum temperature is likely to be around -3 to -5..

OUTLOOK
High pressure retreating westwards into the Atlantic, but still influencing our weather. Mainly dry, perhaps a little light rain on Monday. Generally more cloud around & temperatures near to the seasonal average.

JANUARY CAN GET "WARM", BUT ONLY FOR THE LUCKY FEW!
Apparently, there have been just 10 days in the past 100 years when the temperature somewhere in Britain in January has exceeded 17degrees (62.6 in old money ).  Not only do the meteorological conditions have to be right, but the geographical ones have to be right too.
The meteorological conditions needed are a mild, moist S or SW airflow.The geographical conditions that then promote the unseasonable warmth (& keep it for the lucky few ) are that the area should have high ground (the higher the better) lying to its south or south west & itself to be situated on low- lying land, ( the nearer to sea-level the better)
Many parts of England do not have these geographical criteria, but some parts of Scotland & Wales do.
Most of the Welsh records occur on the North Wales coast around Bangor & Llandudno, with Aber, between the two, holding the record of 18.3. Snowdonia provides the necessary high ground, helping to generate the warmth to its lee.
In Scotland, the January"warm spots"are promoted by the extensive high mountainous areas. Favoured spots include the southern shore of the Moray Firth, parts of N.W.Scotland &the valleys inland from Aberdeen. PITLOCHRY does not appear to be "favoured" with its record high for January only 13.7 degrees. I'll be the 1st to let you know if it goes any higher!!