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Forecasters issue blizzard alert Severe winter blast fears easing
(about 13 hours later)
A severe weather warning has been issued for the most of Scotland for Wednesday night and Thursday. Drifting snow and blizzard conditions have been affecting high ground but concerns over severe weather have eased across many parts of Scotland.
Forecasters have predicted persistent heavy snow, with the potential for 10 to 20cm (4 to 8in) of snow above 150m, blizzard conditions and drifting. Forecasters had predicted up to 10 to 20cm (4 to 8in) of snow in some areas and power companies were on stand-by in case of cable problems.
Power companies have engineers on stand-by in case of cable problems. The worst affected areas have been the Borders, South Lanarkshire and the central and southern Highlands.
The warnings, which cover the period from midnight to 1200 GMT on Thursday, were issued because of a "moderate" risk of a "severe event". Motorists have still been urged to take extra care on the roads.
'Extra care' The snow gates have been closed on the A93 and 10 schools in Aberdeenshire were closed or partially closed.
BBC Scotland weather forecaster Peter Sloss warned: "A band of snow is expected to move east across Scotland later this evening and overnight. The A9 requires extreme care at the Drumochter pass but the road was open.
"This will cause significant accumulations of snow on higher ground, resulting in extremely hazardous driving conditions on the higher routes across Scotland with drifting of the snow in the strong winds. Snow on the M74 in South Lanarkshire meant that both carriageways were down to one lane between junctions 14 and 15.
"Even low ground away from the west coast will see slight accumulations of snow by morning. The area which received the most snow was Dumfries and Galloway, where 15cm (5.9in) fell in some places.
"The sleet and snow will continue during the morning rush hour but will slowly clear away northeastwards during Thursday." It resulted in a total of 16 schools being closed - many in the Annandale and Eskdale area.
The Met Office warned that outbreaks of heavy snow would develop during the early hours of Thursday and continue through the morning. The A701 Dumfries to Moffat road was described as "passable with care" at Parkgate while several vehicles were stuck on the B6357 Canonbie to Newcastleton road.
It said some travel disruption was likely. Clear away
Much of the snow should turn back to rain at low levels during the morning, the Met Office said. But in Aviemore, in the Highlands, where some of the heaviest snowfalls had been predicted, only 2cm (0.7in) had fallen.
The public were advised to take extra care. Bear Scotland, which manages and maintains the 1,120 miles of trunk roads in the east of Scotland on behalf of Transport Scotland, has been treating all routes.
Four schools in the Highlands were closed because of the weather on Wednesday, when temperatures in the region struggled to rise above freezing. Forecasters said there would be snow throughout the morning, though it may turn to rain at lower levels.
Highland Council has warned motorists to be prepared for possible wintry conditions over the next 24 hours. The Grampian area is likely to see snow for most of the day, but in other parts it is likely to clear away during the afternoon.
Northern Constabulary's head of road policing, Insp John Smith, said: "We would urge all motorists to take extra care when driving and to be mindful of conditions and of how their actions can affect their driving ability." In Kelso hundreds of residents endured a third night without gas supplies.
/> 		Engineers were continuing work to reconnect the remaining 350 out of 3,000 properties affected by the problem.
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