9am Briefing: Heavy snow closes Forth Bridge and stretches of M8

Edinburgh Airport is closed all day and rail services were disrupted.

Some schools in Edinburgh have reopened today, though those in East Lothian, Midlothian and West Lothian remain closed.

The wintry weather is set to continue today and tomorrow, with north easterly winds bringing snow showers in from the North Sea.

Daytime temperatures will remain around zero, with the snow easing later tomorrow. The cold will continue, with temperatures dipping as low as minus 12 in some parts of the Lothians on Thursday night.

NEW borrowing powers to be given to the Scottish Parliament could be used to finance the new Forth road bridge.

Scottish Secretary Michael Moore highlighted the 2 billion crossing as one of the projects which could benefit from the new power as he unveiled the UK Government's Scotland Bill, setting out a major extension of devolution including increased tax powers and control of firearms.

Under the proposals, Holyrood will be able to borrow up to 500 million for revenue spending to make up for shortfalls in tax income and up to 2.2bn for capital projects.

Mr Moore said: "This goes beyond what Calman envisaged, but it's the right thing to do. It will be for the Scottish Parliament and Scottish Government to decide whether to borrow and on what to spend – on the Forth crossing, on hospitals or on new school facilities."

FIRST Minister Alex Salmond is to be quizzed by MSPs today over his role in the handling of The Gathering, which was staged in Holyrood Park as part of the Homecoming year.

The event was given a 180,000 Government loan but collapsed with debts of about 516,000 and the loan was written off.

Mr Salmond will be joined at the Public Audit Committee by Michael Russell, who was culture secretary at the time.

Committee convener Hugh Henry wanted the SNP leader to appear because of his "very personal involvement".