Northern Exposure!

For nearly 14 years we lived in Inverness-shire, in the Highlands and there we experienced more severe frost than we have in any of the other places we have lived. Home was a big , very old farmhouse, reputed to be haunted by the Redcoat cavalry searching for Bonnie Prince Charlie (who else !!!!), although we never saw any signs of it....or him either! There was no central heating and most winters the water pipes froze and when I think back, it was a bit parky but then we just piled on the woolie jumpers.........and, the children actually all survived!!!
One particular morning it was very, very quiet and still when we woke up (not that there was ever much noise there) and when we looked out everything was covered with almost 3 feet of snow, much more than we had ever remembered, except for March 1947.
All the shovels were over at the steading so all we had to clear a path from the door was the little house version. Schools were closed as all roads were blocked and eventually supplies had to be dropped by helicopter to the village shops. These became so common-place that the children even stopped shouting, "look, a helicopter!" Essential supplies were fetched from the village by horseback.
After about a fortnight the roads were cleared and you can just about make out, on one of the following photographs, the depth of snow on some parts of the road to Inverness.
We have had quite a lot of snow some years later when we lived in East Lothian and always living out in the "sticks" we would be cut off for several days but it was part of life and we were usually fairly well prepared.
For a few years now the winters have been reasonably mild with just the odd day or two of hard frost and the occasional snowfall.
Maybe there is something in this global warming.