Snow patches in Scotland

Indeed, the summit observatory, which operated from 1883 to 1904, reported that snow survived on the north-east cliffs through more years than it vanished.

[2] More recently, additional and methodical field study on the subject has been carried out by others, most notably by ecologist Dr Adam Watson.

The available information systematically gathered by observers over the last 50 years or so, and greatly increased since the 1990s, has built up a level of knowledge that points to Scotland's snow patches being now amongst the best documented in the world.

[5] As well as containing five of the highest mountains in the United Kingdom,[6] the Cairngorms is the range where snow persists longest, and in more locations, than anywhere else in the UK.

Ben Macdui, Cairn Gorm and Braeriach all contain long-lying patches that have been observed for many years.

[12] It has been claimed that Garbh Choire Mòr (as well as Coire an Lochain in the northern corries) may have contained a glacier as recently as the 19th century.

Below the cliffs of the north-east ridge on Aonach Beag there is a relatively little known snow-patch which, despite its low altitude (approximately 955 metres (3,133 ft) ), has been Scotland's largest at the time of the arrival of the lasting new winter snows of 2007 and 2008.