9am briefing: Drivers warned of snow

MOTORISTS across the Lothians have been warned about the risk of snow today.

The fire service said West Lothian was likely to encounter the worst of the blizzards, asking drivers to take extra care.

Overnight parts of Midlothian were affected by heavy snowfall, though Edinburgh itself escaped.

• A PARCEL depot on the outskirts of the city had to be closed after a bomb scare.

Staff at UPS in South Gyle became alarmed when they discovered what they thought was a suspicious package at 6pm last night.

Police and bomb disposal experts attended the facility and stopped vans coming in and out for a period, before deciding it was a false alarm.

A police spokesman said: “They inspected the package, which was then proven to be safe. There are no suspicious circumstances.”

• THE first giant pandas to live in the UK for 17 years will go on show to the public at Edinburgh Zoo today.

Tian Tian and Yang Guang have been getting used to their new home at the zoo since arriving from China on December 4.

They spent their first few days indoors acclimatising before emerging to explore their outside enclosure.

Around 600 visitors are pre-booked to see the pandas today, a 200 per cent increase on the usual gate numbers for a mid-December Friday.

• AUTHOR and journalist Christopher Hitchens has died after losing his battle with cancer.

The outspoken atheist had been undergoing chemotherapy after being diagnosed with oesophageal cancer last year, but died aged 62 at the MD Anderson Cancer Centre in Houston, Texas, last night.

Mr Hitchens published scores of books, thousands of articles and made countless television appearances.

He famously fell out with his brother Peter, also a journalist, though the pair were later reconciled.

• KAREN Gillan, famed for her role as mini-skirted sidekick Amy Pond, is to leave Doctor Who during the next series of the hit show.

The former Telford College student, 24, will be written out in a “heartbreaking” storyline, programme boss Steven Moffatt said.

A new companion for The Doctor is being lined up, but producers said they would give no clues about their identity.

Gillan and her screen husband Arthur Darvill - who plays Rory - will both be written out.