More than 180 schools closed as snow and ice causes disruption

More than 180 schools have been forced to close across Scotland amid a yellow weather warning for snow and ice.

The Met Office said nearly all of the country above Fort William in the west and Stonehaven in the east will fall under the alert which will be in place for the entire day.

The warning also includes the Hebrides, Orkney and the Shetland Isles.

Temperatures are set to plunge to as low as -15C in the coming days as Arctic air sweeps Scotland.

Weather

When and where will Scotland be hit with snow and ice?

Scattered snow showers have been predicted to hit Scotland on Monday and continue through to Thursday.

Forecasters are warning that ice along with the risk of persistent snow showers will cause travel disruption.

ScotRail has already announced some of its services have been cancelled while several roads have also been closed.

Road users are advised to plan ahead with warnings the bad weather could leave drivers stranded while there are warnings some rural communities could become cut off.

There is also a small risk of power cuts which could lead to issues with mobile phone coverage.

The Met Office said its yellow weather warning for snow and ice for the north of Scotland on Monday will spread across the entire country with a new warning on Tuesday.

A yellow snow warning will then come into effect on Wednesday across nearly all of the country except the central belt and Scottish borders and won’t end until Friday morning.

No warnings are currently issued for Friday.

Where are schools closing?

Aberdeenshire Council has published a list of more than 100 schools that are closed across the region due to bad weather.

Highland Council has said more than 60 of its schools and nurseries will be shut.

Shetland Islands Council said most schools in the area are closed.

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Moray Council have also announced the closure of 12 schools.

Aberdeen City Council said two schools in that area will be shut on Monday.

Other schools across the north of Scotland faced delayed openings due to the snow.

Train cancellations and road closures

On Sunday night, ScotRail announced that some early morning services between Perth and Inverness had been cancelled due to the expected bad weather.

There are alternative services before and after the 8.38am and 8.43am services although journeys will take longer.

Network Rail said it had been taking “proactive steps” to protect the Highland Mainline between Perth and Inverness from signal failures.

On Monday, ScotRail said services were suspended between Glasgow Central and Paisley Canal due to a signalling issue with bus replacement services in place.

There is also disruption to trains between Glasgow Central and Ardrossan Harbour due to a broken-down train.

Customer operations director Phil Campbell said: “We are currently working with our colleagues at Network Rail Scotland to assess the impact of the weather on the railway infrastructure, and we may need to make some changes to services.

“Customers should check their journey before they travel, keeping an eye on our website, app, or social media feeds for live updates.”

Meanwhile, Traffic Scotland said closures will be in place on the A93 Braemar to Spittal of Glenshee and the A939 Cockbridge to Tomintoul due to snow.

There may also be some disruption on the Aberdeen Western Peripheral Route after a lorry jackknifed.

Aberdeen City Council said all available gritters and snowploughs are out gritting the primary routes of the city, which it said makes up around 50% of the area’s roads.

The primary routes can be found here.

CalMac said Mallaig, Armadale, Ardrossan and Brodick ferries could all be liable for disruption and cancellation.

Those travelling are urged to plan ahead.

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