Yesterday was the zenith of our Wintry spell. After several inches of snow overnight and into Thursday morning and a bitterly cold night, Friday was all about freezing fog drifting, clearing and reforming above Loch Shin. Temperatures rose no higher than -6 all day. By 2:30 pm, just an hour before the early sunset of the far North of Mainland Scotland, the fog had lifted to hover just above the lower hills of the Sellachy Estate across the loch, to form a smoke-like grey smear. Below, the frozen surface of Sutherland’s largest inland loch was dusted with ice crystals. Above the slanting light of the lowering sun caught the high clouds in a pale wash of pink and purple. On the horizon, the snow-drenched Assynt mountains peered through the misty clouds like ghostly figures standing sentinel over this perfect hivernal scene.

West Shinness, Lairg, Sutherland. 16th December 2022
Canon EOS R5
Canon RF24-105 IS L

This image is part of the Caithness and Sutherland gallery and is available to license or purchase on various media in the online store.