Travel warning as Snow and ice alert extended to all of Scotland - Yahoo Singapore News

Snow plough clearing the roads in Carrbridge, Scotland in January 2023 — Maintenance operators said gritters had been deployed across Scotland's road network

Travellers have been urged to plan carefully and follow transport advice as a yellow warning for ice and snow comes into force for all of Scotland.

Temperatures could drop to -4C with up to 20cm of snow falling on high ground.

An earlier Met Office alert for the North of Scotland was extended from midnight to reach Central Scotland and the north west of England on Tuesday.

Transport Scotland said it had "well-established plans" that were now in effect to minimise disruption.

Head of transport resilience, Stein Connelly, said a multi-agency response team would be working to co-ordinate resources.

He said: "This cold snap is already causing difficult driving conditions, with further severe impacts anticipated on Tuesday as part of the existing warnings.

"It's important that anyone that has to travel during the warning period plans their journey in advance and allows extra time.

"If you have to travel, please drive to the conditions. There may also be disruption on other modes of transport, so please check before setting off."

Roads maintenance group, Amey North-East, said that 19 gritters were treating roads and 13 vehicles would be on patrol overnight into Tuesday morning.

In the south of the country, Bear Scotland said it had treatment plans for all routes in place.

Police Scotland head of road policing, Ch Supt Hilary Sloan, urged drivers to consider whether their journeys were necessary.

She said: "If you absolutely have to travel, please drive to the conditions, be prepared for delays and allow extra time for your journey.

"Please don't drive through road closures, the decision to close roads is not taken lightly and is done for public safety."

Traffic Scotland advised drivers to use their live route checker map to check for disruption that could impact travel.

Network Rail Scotland said specialist forecasters, infrastructure teams and train operators held an "extreme weather action meeting" on Monday to plan for train services in Scotland.

It said de-icing fluid would be applied to keep critical junctions open and "proactive changes" on the Highland main line had already protected remote junctions from signal failure.

ScotRail said services on the line, from Perth to Inverness, would be delayed by around 30 minutes all day on Tuesday.

Disruption is also anticipated on other train services and passengers are asked to check the ScotRail website for the latest updates.

Ferry operator CalMac said passengers should use its service status website for journey information.

The cold snap is expected to last several days with weather warnings in place for large parts of the country until Thursday.

It comes after more than 180 schools in the north of Scotland were closed on Monday closed due to snow.

The Met Office said temperatures this week were around 5C to 6C lower than usual for this time of year.

Met Office chief meteorologist, Andy Page, said: "Where and how much snow we will get will vary throughout the week and weather warnings could change quickly.

"It will feel bitterly cold with daytime temperatures in the low single figures for many, and overnight temperatures will fall to -3 or -4 in many towns and cities, and it will be even colder in many rural areas."

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