'A good old-fashioned winter' in the Scottish Borders

Diggers have been used to load tonnes of snow from pavements in Jedburgh

By Richard Gordon BBC Scotland, Jedburgh

Jedburgh High Street is typical of many main streets in the Borders at the moment.

Diggers are now being used to load tonnes of snow from pavements onto trucks for disposal elsewhere.

Most shops and other businesses are open as usual, although the Jedburgh branch of the Royal Bank of Scotland is closed "due to adverse weather conditions" and the Bank of Scotland is closing early.

The local ironmonger's has sold out of snow shovels for the older generation and sledges for the younger at heart, with new supplies not expected until next week at the earliest.

The Jed Water has frozen as icy conditions continue in the region

Bags of rock salt for icy paths and driveways have long disappeared, although some are purchasing dishwasher salt as an alternative.

And an expected delivery of wild bird food has been delayed because of road conditions.

The sky, though, is a beautiful blue and the town is bathed in sunshine but it is bitterly cold and the Jed Water is frozen over in places.

It has, admittedly, been colder.

The temperature dipped to a more than chilly -25C back in 1981.

And there has been more snow, including an overnight "dump" of almost two feet back near the start of the decade.

Those with longer memories are thinking of the cold and snowy start to 1963 when many communities in the Borders were cut off for days and some living in isolated cottages were snowed in for almost a month.

So Jedburgh, and the rest of the Borders, is having a good old-fashioned winter.

Even if the cold snap continues for weeks more, things have changed since the Swinging '60s.

Most homes now have central heating so far fewer people now wake up to frosty fern patterns on the inside of the bedroom windows.

And the face flannel in the bathroom isn't frozen solid.

But, at least for most adults today, the novelty of the snow has quickly worn off.

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