Heavy snow and winter weather has caused severe disruption across the north of the country, and is set to continue in the south and central areas of Scotland.
Many roads across the country were closed, including parts of the main A9 road and the A82 and A96, where around 80 motorists were stranded overnight and had to be rescued by police convoy. In the north and east, at least 5000 homes were still without power after lines were brought down on Thursday, with families relocated to emergency reception centres.
Around a foot of snow fell in some parts of the country, with strong winds causing blizzards and drifts. Forecasters said around 40 centimetres of snow lay in Aviemore. The Met Office issued a flash weather warning for the Lothians and Borders, predicting another 10 to 20cms of snow falling as rain turns to heavier snow.
Snow is expected to ease off later on Saturday with some sunshine, say weather forecasters.
Thousands without power
Power cuts had affected almost 45,000 households across Scotland during the course of Thursday. Several thousand were cut off when a cable fell in the Greenloaning area. Areas affected include parts of Auchterarder, Blackford, Gleneagles, Kinross, Milnathort, Crieff, and Sheriffmuir. Perth and Kinross Council opened a number of emergency reception centres to give residents heat, light, and hot drinks.
Ross Easton from Scottish and Southern Energy said: "We were working as late as we could last night. The council has helped us get into the more remote sections of the network by using ploughs. We have also been doing line patrols to assess any potential damage to the network.
"We are quite confident that the 5,000 customers will have their power back on throughout today."
ACROSS THE COUNTRY
- Thousands without power for second day
- Snows set to move south
- School closures in the north east and Highlands
- News picture gallery
Households without electricity have been warned of the increased risk of fire during power cuts.
Scott Thomson, Group Manager of Tayside Fire and Rescue's Community Safety Department, said: "During periods of power failure householders should be extra vigilant. The use of alternative heating and lighting sources such as portable heaters and candles increases the risk of fire in the home."
Motorists stranded
On the roads, snow gates were closed all night on the A9 at Blair Atholl. The road was also closed further south in both directions between the busy Broxden roundabout in Perth and the Keir roundabout near Stirling - leaving some drivers stranded from 7.30am onwards on Thursday until late in the night.
Police rolled out a series of convoys to free the motorists throughout the course of the evening. Civil volunteers in 4x4s were also dispatched to provide food and drinks to stranded motorists.
Bear Scotland sent 12 snow ploughs and gritters working on both carriageways of the A9 between the roundabouts to clear the road. However, a number of jack-knifed lorries caused additional delays. The B8033 Kinbuck to Braco road was closed for the night at Kinbuck Bridge after it was struck by a lorry.
On the rails, there are still cancellations and delays. Trains running on the Edinburgh-Inverness line are terminating at Perth, while there are no services from Glasgow to Fort William. The Glasgow-Edinburgh service has been reduced to half-hourly, and there are delays in the Aberdeen area.
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Heavy rain was also causing problems. 100 residents were ordered to leave their homes after fresh landslips hit the Bervie Braes, and a floodwatch was still in effect for the River Carron, which was within centimetres of bursting its banks.
The snow was very welcome at resorts, however, as Glencoe ski centre became the snowiest resort in the world after 80cm fell on its slopes.
FORECASTS
Scottish Government ministers were briefed on the impact of heavy snowfalls and severe weather at a meeting of the Cabinet Sub Committee on Severe Weather. Scotland has maintained salt stocks at around 65,000 tonnes.
Finance Secretary John Swinney said: "The Scottish Government is continuing to work in close co-operation with local authorities and agencies to ensure that Scotland copes with the impact of some very severe weather."
STV's weatherman Sean Batty said despite the extreme weather there was some good news on the horizon.
He said: "Due to high pressure building up from the north at the weekend, we can look forward to much more settled weather in the week ahead, and lengthy spells of sunshine.
"But it will remain cold at night with extremely low temperatures over snow-covered areas."
YOUR PICTURES
If you have photographs of how the weather is affecting your area you can e-mail news@stv.tv or send a picture message to 81441. We'll feature the best in our snow gallery
