Weather Forecast 6 January : Snow turns to rain at lower levels, becomes more persistent.

YELLOW WARNING SNOW AND ICE. Information from The Met Office. Today 6 January : Showery outbreaks of sleet and snow over Orkney soon become more persistent and turn to rain in the morning, heavy at times. Similar for Shetland with late morning snow turning to rain on low ground in the afternoon. Maximum temperature 3 °C.…

theorkneynews

January 6, 2026

1–2 minutes

ice, January, Met Office, Snoe, Weather, Yellow Warning

YELLOW WARNING SNOW AND ICE.

Information from The Met Office.

Today 6 January :

Showery outbreaks of sleet and snow over Orkney soon become more persistent and turn to rain in the morning, heavy at times. Similar for Shetland with late morning snow turning to rain on low ground in the afternoon. Maximum temperature 3 °C.

Tonight:

It will stay cloudy through the evening and overnight with persistent rain or sleet and hill snow, this heavy at times. Becoming quite windy. Minimum temperature 0 °C.

Wednesday 7 January :

It will stay cloudy throughout the day with a mix of rain, sleet and snow becoming quite persistent and heavy at times. Maximum temperature 2 °C.

Outlook for Thursday to Saturday:

Thursday will see further wintry showers, heavy and frequent at times. Friday and Saturday generally drier and a touch less cold, with bright spells and some rain showers.

Updated: 04:00 (UTC) on Tue 6 Jan 2026

a still Kirkwall harbour with the RNLI and other boats and snow in the distance — Image credit : Christie Grahame