ONE of the country's most unlikely weather forecasters has warned of three more weeks of bitterly cold winter weather for the city.
The prediction was made by Edinburgh Zoo's very own expert – a type of ground squirrel related to the groundhog.
According to folklore, if the squirrel emerges from hibernation and fails to see its shadow, we are set for an early spring. If it se
es its own shadow, winter will continue for three more weeks.
The tradition was started by US farmers who watched the animal's behaviour to decide when to sow their crops.
Edinburgh Zoo's resident weather experts are a family of European sousliks, a type of ground squirrel and close relatives of the groundhog.
And on Saturday the animals decided it was too cold to even emerge from their burrow – which is being taken as a sign the recent cold snap is set to continue.
The US is also in for a long winter after Punxsutawney Phil, which featured in the hit movie Groundhog Day starring Bill Murray, emerged on Saturday and saw his shadow.
Edinburgh's version might not attract crowds as large as those that gather in Punxsutawney, Pennsylvania every year. But Graham Catlow, animal department manager at Edinburgh Zoo, said the sousliks' predictions would become a regular attraction.
"We've had them for 18 months, but I don't think anyone was really aware of this last year," he said.
"This year the weather was just too cold so they decided to stay in bed, which is probably a pretty good sign that we are in for some more bad weather."
While the ground squirrel may have a gloomy prediction, a Met Office spokesman suggested the picture might not be so bleak.
"It would really depend on what you call winter, although I think it is safe to say we won't see three more weeks of the recent heavy weather," he said. "Over the next 48 hours we could get some snow in the higher parts of Scotland and the hills around the Lothians, but after that it would appear there should be some fine weather.
"So I think on this occasion the ground squirrel was maybe still just a little sleepy."
WEB LINKS
• Edinburgh Zoo
The full article contains 379 words and appears in Edinburgh Evening News newspaper.
