The Iceman cometh

Another stunning day here. The temperature reached a very pleasant 19C a few days back - you quickly forget how nice it is to drive with the windows down - but, although today was not as warm, the clarity of the air enhanced the vibrancy of the autumn colours and I desperately wished I hadn't broken my camera a couple of weeks back.
It was a different story first thing this morning, though. I had to scrape ice off my windscreen and, as I drove over Dava moor, on my way to meet Verity in Aviemore, the temperature dropped to -2C. So, only halfway through October and already we have had snow on the mountains and minus temperatures.

I suspect that this is going to be the first of several reports of icy conditions. I just hope it doesn't get as bad as last January, when the temperature dropped to -18C in Grantown-on-Spey. On of BSM's instructors missed two days work because the diesel in his tank froze. Bizarrely, despite the freakish temperatures last winter, I only had one test cancelled due to poor weather, and that was due to snow.... in October!

My main worry is my wife, Jane. She has a part-time job collecting/returning schoolchildren from Glen Ferness and other areas the coaches cant reach. A job she enjoys during the warmer months, but it gets a bit scary during the winter. Last year there were days when the snow by the side of the road had been ploughed higher than her minibus. I have to commend the local authorities on how efficient they usually are at gritting the roads around here, but Jane often has to drive along roads which remain untouched by gritters.

I hope to post some advice for driving in snow/icy conditions over the next few weeks but, until then, the simplest advice I can give is 'don't drive in such conditions unless it is absolutely necessary'.

So, until the weather gets too silly, I look forward to my trips over the moors to Aviemore, especially if they are as spectacular as this morning. My choice of CD was Four Calendar Cafe by The Cocteau Twins. Elizabeth Fraser breathing her vocals all over me while the lightest of mists lay draped over the Spey glen added a cinematic quality to the drive. http://open.spotify.com/track/6FtcMwa3UsYCKFYTJ1kW04

(p.s. No, the photo is not of the Highlands. Actually, I don't know where the photo was taken, I just think it is an incredible scene - click on the photo to emlarge it)