An ice view: Stunning scene as bizarre frozen ‘pancakes’ form on Scottish Highlands river

• Peter McKinney was working in Dunearn, Nairnshire, Scotland, when he spotted the unique spectacle
• He saw about 30 of the ice disks glowing in the sun, each the size of a large pizza, he says
• The gamekeeper even balanced a can of Irn Bru on one of them to show off just how big they were

A dad-of-three captured this mesmerising natural phenomenon of ‘ice pancakes’ across a river – which were so thick he was able to use one as a coaster for his can of Irn Bru.

Gamekeeper Peter McKinney was out on the job last month in Dunearn, Nairnshire, Scotland, when he stumbled across the unique spectacle of about 30 ‘glowing in the sun’.

While the 51-year-old said ice pancakes do sometimes form in the right conditions, these ones were ‘extra large’ and each about the size of a large pizza.

Gamekeeper Peter McKinney placed a can of Irn-Bru on one of the ice pancakes at Dunearn in Nairnshire, Scotland

The 51-year-old (pictured) said ice pancakes do sometimes form in the right conditions, these ones were ‘extra large’ and each about the size of a large pizza

Peter, from Nairn, Nairnshire, Scotland, even balanced a can of Irn-Bru on one of the pancakes to show off just how big they were – prompting one person on Facebook to brand them giant ‘coasters’. 

Peter said: ‘Now and again you get ice pancakes in the right conditions. These are extra large ones, they were the size of a big pizza.

‘I would say it’s rare. I’ve been working in the country for 35 years and it’s the first I’ve seen them like that.

‘They just stuck out. The sun was hitting them and they just stuck out in that different shape. And the way they were glowing in the sun gave them a different feel.

Ice pancakes form on rivers in cold conditions when foam is sucked into a swirling current of water and freezes into a circle

‘Sometimes they’re stuck together but these ones are all floating loosely so it must have been perfect conditions for them.

‘The Irn-Bru can was just for scale to show the size of them. It adds a wee bit of colour to the photo too.’

Ice pancakes form on rivers in cold conditions when foam is sucked into a swirling current of water and freezes into a circle, according to the Met Office.

These ones had formed on Tomlachlan Burn, a tributary of the River Findhorn.

Peter said: ‘I would say it’s rare. I’ve been working in the country for 35 years and it’s the first I’ve seen them like that’

The ice pancakes pictured in Scotland by Mr McKinney had formed on Tomlachlan Burn, a tributary of the River Findhorn

Peter said: ‘It’s a strange shape to happen in nature, a circular shape. It’s not something you see very often. Not a lot of people have ever seen them.

‘You get them in running water in a river or small river. It’s the way the water runs and it comes back on itself and goes around in a circle.

‘From the churning water you get foam and scum and whatnot and that just forms a circle.

‘I take a lot of photos and I like looking back on them – it just takes you back to that day [and] it’s one of those ones. It’s something to show other people. I like to share them.’

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