Last month was the coldest December in Scotland since records began, the Met office has confirmed.
And the sub-zero temperatures made it the second coldest month in a century, with only the notoriously bitter February of 1947 causing the thermometers to drop lower in the last 100 years.
The mean temperature in Scotland between December 1-28 was -2.5C but a spokeswoman for the Met Office said that figure would rise slightly when the last three days of the month are factored in.
The mean temperature for February 1947 was -2.4C.
First Minister Alex Salmond said, “I would like to pay tribute to the thousands of individuals gritter drivers, Scottish Water engineers, medical staff and many, many others who have kept spirits up and the nation moving over the past six weeks.
“It has been an extremely busy period but their hard work and dedication has been greatly appreciated.”
He added that the weather had shown the strength of the Scottish character.
“Yes, it brought misery, but it also brought out the best in our community spirit,” he said. “And our efforts extended beyond looking after our own in recent weeks, assisting our neighbours in Northern Ireland in their hour of need.”
Mr Salmond also highlighted the work done by the ministerial resilience committee, which monitors problems during the extreme winter weather.
Former transport minister Stewart Stevenson resigned on December 11 over his handling of travel chaos caused by heavy snowfall after it emerged he had missed several of the meetings.
He was replaced by Ochil MSP Keith Brown.
“Throughout this severe weather period, the ministerial resilience committee has met 43 times, including on Christmas Day, Boxing Day and New Year’s Day,” Mr Salmond said.
“Everyone involved has worked together to ensure a co-ordinated response and mutual support, for example in relation to aviation, rail travel, fuel delivery, salt and water supplies.”
He added, “To take but one example in the exceptional winter thus far, an unprecedented 400,000 tonnes of salt and grit has been used.
“However, early ordering means that we now have available 435,000 tonnes, either in stock or on order, to use over the next three months.”
The British winter of 1947 has long been considered the harshest in living memory.