Snow patches in Scotland

Long-lying snow patches in Scotland have been noted from at least the 18th century,^[1] with snow patches on Ben Nevis being observed well into summer and autumn. Indeed, the summit observatory, which operated from 1883 to 1904, reported that snow survived on the north-east cliffs through more years than it vanished.^[2]

More recently, additional and methodical field study on the subject has been carried out by others, most notably by ecologist Dr Adam Watson. Most of this work concentrated on the mountains of north-east Scotland (in particular, the Cairngorms), but more recent observations by him and others has shed light on various locations throughout Scotland where long-lying snow persists. The available information systematically gathered by observers over the last 50 years or so, and greatly increased since the 1990s, has built up a level of knowledge that points to Scotland's snow patches being now amongst the best documented in the world.^{[citation needed]}