All city council schools to stay shut on Tuesday

ALL Council schools in Edinburgh will remain closed tomorrow due to the severe weather conditions.

With more snow forecast and temperatures predicted to plummet to as low as minus 10, members of the public are being warned to expect further disruption to services over the coming days, with some Council facilities closed.

Councillor Robert Aldridge, Environment Leader, said: "We're dealing with an unprecedented situation here: more snow has fallen in the last 72 hours or so than we had in Edinburgh over the span of a few weeks last winter - approximately 14 inches of snow has fallen since Friday evening and more is on the way.

"The Council's staff are doing an incredible job in extremely challenging conditions, working around the clock to keep essential roads open, caring for vulnerable people and maintaining essential services. We are anticipating continued severe weather into tonight and tomorrow and will bring forward updates regarding service provision as soon as these are available."

The City of Edinburgh Council's fleet of gritters and mini-tractors have been working round the clock since Friday evening to keep the city's main roads open as the unprecedented snowfall continued.

As much as fourteen inches of snow are estimated to have fallen in Edinburgh since 8pm on Friday and more than 1,200 tons of salt have been used in response.

The Council's entire fleet of gritters and mini-tractors have been working around the clock since Friday evening to keep the city's principal routes - main bus routes and roads to hospitals - open.

Seventy five roads staff are working, and additional staff have been mobilised from other duties such as street cleaning and parks. These additional staff are working to clear footpaths, particularly in shopping areas and sheltered housing schemes. Residential grit bins will be replenished as soon as possible.

Refuse collections have been disrupted as bin lorries are unable to operate safely due to road conditions. The situation will be assessed on a day by day basis. Any bins not collected today will be collected next week.

All Council schools - nursery, primary, special and secondary - and Children and Families centres will remain closed tomorrow.

Three short break respite units for children with additional support needs - Seaview, The Caern Project and Action for Children - are closed tonight and tomorrow night.

All adult education classes are cancelled today and tomorrow.

All Community Learning and Development centres will be closed to the public tomorrow.

All our older people and disabilities day centres are closed today and tomorrow; however, if any older people need additional help then staff are arranging home visits.

All social work centres are currently open except for Oxgangs. Our home care and re-ablement teams are reprioritising case loads to ensure emergency cases are covered.

Housing repairs are suspended for all but the most urgent cases. All community alarm clients are being contacted by telephone.

Mortonhall Crematorium is operating normally and staff are currently working to carry out any scheduled burials.

Some city libraries are closed. Please check our website or look for updates on @talesofonecity before visiting your local library.

All Edinburgh's Christmas attractions in East Princes Street Gardens are currently open, but St Andrew's Day celebrations in St Andrew Square have been cancelled for today and tomorrow.

Further updates will be provided as soon as available via www.edinburgh.gov.uk/severeweather, or on twitter @Edinburgh_CC.