Colourful and cold start to 2026

MUCH of Scotland has been told to brace for blizzards and up to 90 hours of snow to start the New Year.

- BY DAVID WALKER

New Year fireworks over the Sydney Harbour Bridge and Auckland's iconic Sky Tower

The Met Office yesterday extended its weather warning over the weekend and issued a new alert for gale force winds.

There is also the possibility of thundersnow - a rare winter weather event where lightning and thunder occur during a snowfall.

While Hogmanay revellers were set to miss out on the worst conditions, it was still expected to be very cold in Edinburgh and

Glasgow last night. Today will bring the first weather warning of 2026 as snow and ice is threatened for the north of the country.

A yellow alert was already in force from 6am this morning until midnight tomorrow, with potential transport disruption and snow storms forecast.

But the Met Office has now extended this by a further 48 hours to include the whole of the weekend.