Arcadia Scotland

The UK is used to tabloids trying to stir up controversy with whatever they can use as ammunition. Every winter there are headlines that try to make us believe we'll open our front doors and find ourselves transported to a scene from The Day After Tomorrow (incidentally an A+ terrible disaster movie if you're looking for one - at one point Dennis Quaid is literally chased by ice). The UK is kept largely temperate by the warmth from the gulf stream which means that generally speaking we get unremarkable summers and mild winters.

All this adds up to being entirely unprepared for the sheer amount of snow we received this past week! The news has been full of dramatic phrases like "polar vortex", "Siberian chill" and affectionately referring to the storm that swept across the country as "The Beast from the East". I'm sure that for those of you from the snowbelt, this was a laughable amount of snow and that you all got fed up with us treating this weekend like the snowpocalypse and panic buying bread and milk. 

But when I say we weren't prepared, we really weren't! This was the first red weather warning for snow issued by the Met Office for Scotland ever. The most we ever do for snow is put a bit of grit down. By midday on Wednesday, all schools were closed and public transportation was instructing everyone to leave work by 3pm at the latest. By Thursday, all Scottish universities were closed, no buses or trains were running and no shops were open. Truly the end of days! 

However, that didn't stop everyone from going out to have some fun! Once the worst of the blizzard was over, everyone was out in the perfect, powder-soft snow and our Instagram account was suddenly blinding! 

Kylie got a fantastic shot from Dumyat Hill - you can just make out the University of Stirling on the far right, below the National Wallace Monument. 

Olivia trekked to the top of Carlton Hill in Edinburgh for this spectacular shot over the city: 

Casey was out exploring in Glasgow. 

Meanwhile, Dom was a bit overwhelmed by all the snow...

There were some giant icicles out at Rosslyn Chapel, where one of our Edinburgh Napier Interns, Kalia, is based.

And with our other group of interns at the Scottish Parliament, the subtle artwork on the building was brought to life. Can you make out Edinburgh Castle in this wall carving? 

I hope everyone stayed wrapped up warm this past week, and I promise that spring is on its way! Just hold on a little longer!