Scottish temperatures hit new March high

Temperatures in March are usually closer to 10C in Scotland

Scotland has again broken the record for its highest-ever March temperature.

The mercury reached 22.9C (73.2F) in Aboyne, Aberdeenshire, on Monday, beating the previous record of 22.8C at Fyvie Castle, Aberdeenshire, on Sunday.

Aviemore in the Highlands (22.3C), Braemar in Aberdeenshire (19.6C), Wick in Caithness (19.5C) and Kirkwall on Orkney (18.7C) also reached record highs for the month of March on Monday.

The Aboyne temperature also set an all-time UK record for 26 March.

The average daytime temperature for March is usually about 10C.

Records were also broken across southern and central Scotland on Monday, with Strathallan in Perth and Kinross and Charterhall in Berwickshire both recording 19.8C.

The weather station at Bishopton in Renfrewshire, which records temperatures for Glasgow, broke its March record on Sunday at 19.5C and was close to equalling that on Monday.

The previous Scottish high was 22.2C set in March 1957 at Gordon Castle, in Moray, and again at Strachan, in Kincardineshire, in 1965.

South of the border, Otterbourne, in Hampshire, was the warmest place on Monday at 21.4C, followed by Porthmadog, North Wales, at 21.1C.

The warmest UK March day on record stands at 25.6C, which was set at Mepal in Cambridgeshire in 1968.

The sunny spell saw the majority of the country enjoy a weekend of fine weather, warmer than southerly parts of continental Europe, including Barcelona, Nice, Majorca and Faro in Portugal.

BBC Scotland weather forecaster Stav Danaos said after a chilly night Tuesday would see little change, with all parts seeing plenty of sunshine, but maybe a degree or two down on Monday.