There’s been quite a few superlatives thrown at this early January cold spell, not least the recording of the coldest January night at Altnaharra in 15 years.

Snowfalls across the Highlands, Lake District and northern England have been notable in their longevity relative to recent years.

But the absence of any lying snow at 9am in this locality and fairly standard minima for January left me looking elsewhere for something notable.

Airmass battlegrounds are a regular feature of UK winters though I can’t remember a time when this region has been right on the boundary.

The temperature on the 5th climbed from 3.2C at 0810 to 11.3C at 1050. Here it hovered until 0710 on the 6th before plunging to 3.2C again by 0910 – a period of just 2 hours.

There was some transient snowfall on the evening of the 4th but it lasted a matter of hours with the incoming warm air after midnight..