Blast from Europe will bring 'snow and more snow'

• The snow settled in the centre of Edinburgh where 5-year-old Seongin Park found it a source of amusement. Photograph: Toby Williams

The Scottish Government has stockpiled 360,000 tonnes of grit in an attempt to prevent the sort of shortages that occurred last year when Scotland shivered in the worst winter conditions seen for three decades.

With the coldest November for 17 years under way, ministers have made plans to cope with another difficult winter, which has already seen widespread reports of cars sliding off frozen roads.

The grit that has been collected so far this winter should be enough to treat Scotland's roads for two months of heavy use before the stocks need replenished.

Existing supplies will be regularly topped up with more grit arriving by ship in Leith tomorrow.

Yesterday a spokesman for the Met Office based in Aberdeen said: "Over the next few days we will see snow, snow and more snow."

Around ten centimetres is expected to lie in some areas of the country, with meteorologists warning that drifting snow could cause chaos for motorists.

In another severe weather warning the Met Office said a cold north-easterly wind blasting from Scandinavia will bring more snow over the next couple of days with the brunt of the winter weather expected to hit Scotland's East Coast, the Central Belt, and Glasgow.

The Highlands, Dumfries and Galloway and Argyll will be spared the worst of the snow showers, as it continues to fall this week.

Night time temperatures will drop to as low as -10C before a spell of dryer weather begins to arrive around Wednesday.

The Met urged motorists not to take to the roads unless journeys were absolutely necessary and urged people to wrap up to protect themselves as another severe weather warning was issued.

"You have to remember that wind chill means that zero temperatures in a 20 mile an hour wind is going to be bitterly cold," the Met said.