Snowfall allows Cairngorm resort to open for skiing

Cairngorm Mountain says it has enough snow to offer some skiing and snowboarding this weekend.

The Highlands have been among parts of Scotland to see snowfall over the past few days.

Cairngorm Mountain, near Aviemore, said a limited number of passes would be available and it advised people to book in advance.

However the centre said there would not be full access to its upper slopes, and there was insufficient snow to open the lower slopes.

Mike Gifford, chief executive of Cairngorm Mountain (Scotland) Limited, said the resort's team had been working hard to move snow around to make some runs available.

He added: "We hope this is the start of a positive winter at Cairngorm Mountain."

A few skiers made it up to the centre on Thursday.

Temperatures fell as low as -11.7C overnight in Scotland, as parts of the UK experienced the coldest night of autumn so far.

The mercury fell to -7C in Wales and -6C in Northern Ireland making it the coldest night of the season for all UK nations except England, which hit -6.6C the previous night.

Thursday night was also the coldest for the UK as a whole since 11 January.