Now temperatures hit minus 18ºC

Published on Tuesday 29 December 2009 21:28

SCOTLAND remained in the grip of a deep freeze yesterday with snow and ice disrupting travel on roads, rail and air.

Temperatures plunged to -18C at Braemar in Aberdeenshire – the coldest night so far this winter.

At Tyndrum in Stirlingshire the mercury dropped to -17C while at Strathallan in Perthshire it was -16C.

Flights were delayed or cancelled as snow closed Inverness Airport yesterday morning, although it opened later.

Sub zero temperatures also caused disruption on the railways, with a number of ScotRail's Glasgow Central services, including those to Ayr, Largs, Ardrossan Harbour and Wemyss Bay, reduced.

The Met Office issued weather warnings for roads in Strathclyde, Tayside and Fife, Central and south-west Scotland, and Lothian and Borders, while Transport Scotland said routes across the country were affected by icy conditions.

Sales of salt have soared in supermarkets as customers try to clear slippery paths and roads.

Amid criticism in some areas that pavements are not being cleared quickly enough, householders are taking matters into their own hands.

Morrisons said that sales of its 1.5kg bags of cooking salt have increased by almost 400 per cent compared to last week.

Asda said sales of salt have increased by 300 per cent in the past week and Tesco also reported a rise in sales.

There has also been a brisk trade in cat litter, which people use as an alternative to grit.

It comes as a union leader claimed that council gritters are sitting idle at road depots in Aberdeen where there have been complaints about pavements being untreated.

Tommy Campbell from the Unite union, said Aberdeen's depots were "packed" with gritters.

He said: "Everybody in Aberdeen is suffering with pavements that are untreated. The top brass at Aberdeen City Council have failed the people of the city miserably."

But Sue Bruce, the council's chief executive, said staff had been working 11-hour shifts to keep roads and pavements ice-free.

She said: "I know people are irritated and frustrated, but I know all our staff have been doing all they can possibly do."

A council spokesman also said only one gritter was out of action due to a mechanical fault. He claimed stationary gritters would have been returned to the depot to be refilled with sand or refuelled before going back out on to the streets.

Meanwhile, a couple feared they would miss their own wedding after being trapped in their hotel by over 2ft of snow.

Bride Jessica Domoney, 29, was due to marry childhood sweetheart William Bromley, 27, yesterday in Dunkeld.

They had been staying at the Hilton Hotel in the Perthshire town after travelling more than 400 miles from their home in Oxford, with 80 guests, at the weekend.

Hotel staff had to ditch the original wedding cars and ferry the couple and seven bridesmaids to Dunkeld Cathedral in three off-road vehicles.