Even hardiest of Scots beaten by the snow

WEATHER forecasters last night warned people across the north of Scotland to brace themselves for two more days of wintry conditions.

Almost 300 schools were closed yesterday as the heaviest snowfalls of the winter brought chaos to road, rail and air travel in the north of Scotland.

As blizzards swept across the region, paralysing rush-hour travel in Aberdeen, police urged motorists not to travel unless absolutely necessary.

Forecasters last night warned that further snowfalls and freezing temperatures were expected across the Highlands, Aberdeenshire, Orkney and Shetland today and tomorrow.

Snow closed some major roads in Grampian – others were blocked by jack-knifed lorries or overturned cars.

At one time yesterday, up to 30 motorists were feared trapped in their vehicles near Colpy on the A96, the main road between Aberdeen and Inverness. But when emergency vehicles eventually succeeded in their battle to clear the road, they found only a handful of abandoned vehicles on the route.

Both main routes into Inverness – the A9 and the A96 – were closed at one stage. Later, as conditions eased, a convoy system was put in place to help traffic negotiate treacherous stretches of the A9 between Inverness and Aviemore.

In Aberdeenshire, 145 of the council's 174 primary, secondary and special schools were either completely or partially closed due to the Arctic conditions.

In Moray, a total of 39 secondaries and primaries were shut, while 63 schools were closed or partially closed in Highland, and 26 were closed in Aberdeen.

Train services between Aberdeen and Inverness were cancelled and the main runway at Aberdeen airport was closed for more than two hours, causing a number of flights to be delayed or cancelled. Services were also disrupted at Inverness and Wick airports.

The heavy snow caused widespread disruption on the roads.

Rush-hour traffic ground to a standstill in Anderson Drive, one of the main routes through Aberdeen, after a lorry became stuck in the icy conditions.

In Aberdeenshire, police set up diversions for southbound traffic on the A96 at Fochabers, routing traffic along the A98 to Banff, then on to the A947 via Turriff towards Aberdeen.

As conditions worsened during the morning, Grampian Police issued an urgent warning, advising drivers to remain off the North-east's roads unless their journeys were absolutely necessary.

Northern Constabulary received reports of motorists removing "road closed" signs on some of the routes.

South of the Border, heavy snowfalls again caused widespread disruption. More than 500 schools were closed in Wales.