Tayside and Fife was plunged into white-out conditions in January 1982, amid the worst winter storm seen in years.
The snow was accompanied by a gale-force easterly wind forming huge drifts, which was followed by low temperatures.
In the Firth of Forth, fishermen returning to harbour reported that fish were freezing instantly as the nets were hauled in, something many crew members had not seen before.
Hundreds of cars were abandoned on different roads and mountain rescue teams worked to recover people trapped in their vehicles, while police rolled huge snowballs on to the motorway entrances to stop people driving on it.
Blizzards struck Dundee and the Perthshire village of Aberfeldy was cut off.
The mercury plummeted to the stage where nothing could move in or out of the village.
But the conditions didn’t relent in what proved mission: impassable.
And matters were no better elsewhere across large parts of the north east.
Heavy snow affected Forfar, Kirriemuir and the Angus glens.
At one stage, a snow plough got stuck in drifts near Monikie.
Transport links were severed.
Local residents hunkered down in their houses and awaited some reprieve, while meteorologists consulted their chronicles and reached a few interesting conclusions.
One Arbroath businessman, Jim Wallace, said: “We tried to open our premises today but the doors were frozen stiff.
“We even tried a blowtorch to get ice out of the locks but it was useless.
“We’ll have to try again tomorrow.”
Severe frost, snow and flooding badly hit the farming community.
George Bruce from Kirriemuir said: “This is our worst winter since 1947.”
Further north things were even worse with Braemar colder than the South Pole on January 10 1982 – with the temperature at the latter site just minus 21 in comparison.
Despite a mass effort to tackle several issues in different communities, there was no immediate respite for the public in what turned into one of Scotland’s worst winters of the 20th Century.
The north suffered most from the cold blast of Arctic air that January yet the whole of Britain shivered at the start of the year.
A city centre street in Birmingham had to be sealed off because of fears that giant icicles, hanging from an office block, would fall on people below.
The winter wave lasted until mid-to-late January.
More like this:
Winter wonderland: Dundee under a blanket of snow in winters of yesteryear
Storm Darcy brings back a blizzard of memories of snowy Dundee through the years
Trip back in time: Aerial photos of Dundee through the decades
