UK’s longest-lasting snow patch melts for only eighth time in 300 years

Experts says global heating a significant factor in more regular disappearance of Scotland's Sphinx' patch

The UK's longest-lasting snow patch, which has survived countless summers on a remote mountainside in the Cairngorms, has melted away for only the eighth time in 300 years as the Cop26 climate talks take place in Glasgow.

Nicknamed the Sphinx", the hardy patch of snow is found on Braeriach, Scotland's third-highest mountain at 1,296 metres (4,252ft), near Aviemore. It had shrunk to the size of an A4 piece of paper in recent weeks before finally disappearing in mild weather.