River Tay, Dunkeld Estate

Today no change in the Arctic conditions, so it was a case of wrapping up to face the snow flurries and biting wind. The River Tay runs right past the Dunkeld Hilton and is one of the great attractions of staying here. I headed upstream along one of the footpaths. Although snow was lying around the hotel, once I rounded the bend of the river the snow virtually disappeared apart from little pockets among the fallen leaves. There must be a micro climate on the river banks. I liked this aspect with the line of beech trees and their beautiful grey bark.

The Tay is the longest river in Scotland originating in western Scotland, flowing easterly across the Highlands, then continuing east through the centre of the country, then southeast through Perth and on to the sea at Dundee. It is the largest river in the UK by volume of water discharged. Despite the inclement weather we are experiencing now, the river is quite low with parts of the banks exposed that I've not seen before. This is evidence that rainfall in recent weeks has been well below average.