Global warming lays Ben Nevis bare again

Scotland's ice-capped mountains are in danger of becoming a thing of the past as rising temperatures threaten to wipe away all traces of the snow from Britain's highest and most rugged peaks.

While unseasonable weather patterns cause havoc across the country, forcing the residents of Padstow in Cornwall to run for shelter from hailstones the size of sugar cubes and encouraging grapes to grow wild in Essex, Britain's highest mountains have been losing their frosted coatings.

For thousands of years, snow patches would remain hidden among the shaded hollows and crevices of the Cairngorms all year long as the cold temperatures compacted the snow into thick sheets of ice.

Replenished by regular annual blizzards, the highest summits were never completely bare - until recently.

Slopes which were once littered with scattered snow patches are just barren rock and scientists fear that it is yet another sign of a big thaw brought about by global warming.

The last snow of the year on Britain's highest mountain, the 1343m Ben Nevis, disappeared a month ago and now the last remnants of snow have also vanished from the 1309m Ben Macdui.

According to ecologist Keith Miller, who works with the conservationist body the John Muir Trust, the last snow patches in a remote area called Garbh Choire Mor some 1150m above sea level disappeared weeks ago.

It is estimated that the average January and February temperatures have been rising by 0.3C every 10 years for the past 30 years, which has had a knock-on effect on animal and plant life with flowers budding earlier and birds which usually fly south for the winter staying longer.

Throughout Britain symptoms of climate change are obvious. In Essex, alongside the tracks leading into Westcliff-on-Sea railway station, a wild vine has taken root and is groaning under the weight of dozens of bunches of juicy black grapes thanks to the perfect growing conditions of plenty of sunshine and a mild autumn.

Meanwhile, parts of Cornwall have been turned into a winter wonderland after a freezing downpour of giant hailstones damaged cars, blocked drains, and left behind 2.4cm of slush as normal weather patterns have been turned on their heads.

In the 18th and early 19th century snow was permanent on Ben Nevis and throughout the Cairngorms but since 1860 snow cover, on even the highest peaks of the mountain range, has disappeared completely five times and three of those occasions have been in the past 11 years.

"Snow disappeared completely in 1933, 1959, 1996, 2003 and now in 2006," said Dr Adam Watson, an ecologist and member of the Royal Metrological Society who has been monitoring snowfall in the area for almost 50 years.

"There is no doubt that climate change is having an affect."

Scientists at the Tyndall Centre for Climate Change at the University of East Anglia predict the level of snowfall in Scotland could drop by between 60 per cent and 90 per cent by 2080 if high volumes of greenhouse gases continue to be pumped into the atmosphere.

A spokesman for Scottish Natural Heritage said a recent study had found the number of days of snow cover had dropped dramatically in recent years.

"The recently published handbook of Scottish climate trends demonstrated that the number of days of snow cover in Scotland has decreased by about 32 per cent between 1961-1962 to 2004-2005," he said.

- INDEPENDENT