9am Briefing: Scotland hit by snow as winter arrives

LARGE parts of Scotland were hit by sleet and snow today as winter arrived with a vengeance.

Edinburgh appeared to escape the worst of the weather with just a dusting a snow in places.

But motorists venturing beyond the Capital faced white-out conditions in the west and a two-hour queues on the M74 after a lorry jack-knifed near Lesmahagow.

The city council said it has 21 gritters and two lorries out yesterday, spreading 178 tonnes of salt.

The M8 was down to one lane for a time near Livingston during this morning’s rush hour and the M74 was later cleared of the jack-knifed lorry, but only after long delays for motorists.

* THE LONG-awaited giant pandas are today settling into their new home at Edinburgh Zoo after more than five years of negotiations to bring them to the Capital.

Tian Tian and Yang Guang – also known as Sweetie and Sunshine – touched down at Edinburgh Airport yesterday afternoon following a 5000-mile, 11-hour flight specially chartered by FedEx.

Today the panda pair - the first to reside in the UK for more than 17 years - were reported to be doing well in their new £300,000 panda pad.

* EDINBURGH has been “left behind” as a shopping destination, a top property fund manager has claimed.

Robert Boag, of the UK Commercial Property Trust, said Glasgow, in contrast, had “given retailers what they want” it was reported today.

He argued a focus on tourism in the Capital had led to a missed opportunity to develop Princes Street. “It has been all about protecting the heritage. Politically there were a lot of wrong decisions made.”

Mr Boag said shopping centres on the edge of Edinburgh were drawing shoppers who might otherwise shop in the city centre.

* SCOTS would vote for independence if they were sure to be just £500 better off a year, a survey revealed today.

Just short of two-thirds of people, 65 per cent, said they would vote yes if the higher standard of living was certain, while only one-quarter said they would opt to stay in the United Kingdom

But if the economic situation was reversed, and the average Scot was £500 worse off a year, only 21% would back independence while two-thirds would vote against it in a referendum according to the ScotCen Scottish Social Attitudes Survey, published today.

* A BUSINESSWOMAN-turned-philanthropist has pledged £1 million to a Capital research centre dedicated to understanding autism.

Dame Stephanie ‘Steve’ Shirley, who founded a software firm in the 1960s, will give the donation to the Patrick Wild Centre at the University of Edinburgh.

Her late son Giles suffered from autism and epilepsy, and the donation will go towards creating a state-of-the-art imaging suite which will enable scientists to study autism in new ways. Dame Stephanie founded the software company FI Group, now known as Xansa/Steria, in the 1960s.