Hundreds stranded on roads as blizzard hits Scotland

• A grit lorry clears a road in Newton Mearns after heavy snow falls across Scotland overnight. Picture: PA

About 80 motorists were stuck overnight after snow blocked routes in Aberdeenshire, before clearing crews reached them.

And yesterday afternoon, hundreds of car, van and lorry drivers were stranded in Perthshire on the A9, the main road between Perth and Inverness, and south of Perth, heavy snow and fallen electricity lines caused both northbound and southbound lanes to be closed between the Broxden and Keir roundabouts.

Tayside Police had to enlist the assistance of civilian volunteers in 4x4s to take emergency food and drink supplies to the stranded motorists along a 20-mile stretch of the road. Some drivers had been left stranded on the snowbound route since early morning.

The chaos was worsened by the collapse of an electricity line, which came down across the A9 in the Greenloaning area. The B974 Banchory to Fettercairn road in Aberdeenshire was also closed after a cable fell on the road about two miles from Strachan.

A Tayside Police spokesman said last night: "The A9 northbound at Blair Atholl has been closed to all traffic due to heavy snow. With further snow showers expected through the night, it is unlikely the A9 northbound at Blair Atholl will be reopened until tomorrow morning."

During the previous night, about 50 lorry and car drivers were stranded on the A98 Banff to Fraserburgh road near Macduff and another 30 on the A96 between Keith and Fochabers after being caught out by the sudden heavy snowfall.

Localised flooding in coastal areas of Aberdeenshire added to the misery facing motorists.

Chief Inspector Ian Wallace, head of roads policing with Grampian Police, said: "With temperatures dropping, road conditions across the area are treacherous. I would urge all motorists to take extra care and to be mindful about how these factors can impact on their own safety and the safety of others."

Eleven roads in the force area were closed, including the A939 Cockbridge to Tomintoul and the A95 between Aberlour and Grantown-on-Spey. For several hours the A96, the main road between Aberdeen and Inverness, was blocked on two stretches, between Colpy and Huntly and between Keith and Fochabers.

Inverness was almost cut off from the south. The snowgates on the A9 at Drumochter and the A82 at Glencoe were shut. There was also widespread disruption in the Auchterarder area of Perthshire after 2ft of snow fell overnight.

Several roads were closed in the Highlands, including the A939 Grantown to Dava, A835 Aultguish to Ullapool and the A889 Laggan to Dalwhinnie roads.

Flooding caused havoc on the A90 between Laurencekirk and Stonehaven, and other coastal roads in the North-east were badly affected by surface water.

Further south, a section of the M876 was closed near Denny by a jack-knifed lorry.

There was also widespread disruption on the railways. ScotRail services between Aberdeen and Inverness were unable to operate between Inverurie and Keith, and there were delays on the line between Aberdeen and Dundee because of flooding at Stonehaven.

Heavy snow brought down power lines from Perthshire to Caithness. And at one point yesterday, a total of 11,000 Scottish & Southern Energy customers were without electricity.

Last night, 6,000 consumers in the Auchterarder and Braco areas were still without power, as were 1,500 customers in the Dingwall area and in parts of Caithness.

A spokesman for Scottish & Southern said: "We knew this bad weather was coming and drafted in extra staff; extra 4X4 vehicles are also in operation. Overhead lines coming down due to the weight of snow have caused the biggest problems, and our crews are working in very difficult conditions to restore supplies."

Thousands of pupils had another day off, with 88 schools, including 16 secondaries, closed in the Highlands. A total of 121 schools in Aberdeenshire were closed or partly closed, 29 schools in Moray were shut and almost 70 schools were closed in Tayside and Central Scotland.

The weather also meant delays and cancellations on ferries. Caledonian MacBrayne had to cancel all sailings between Stornoway and Ullapool, and many other passenger services were disrupted.

Oban lifeboat braved horrendous conditions at sea to rescue four people on Mull who urgently needed to reach hospital.

The lifeboat stepped in after a Caledonian MacBrayne ferry had to abandon two attempts to berth at Craignure, on Mull, because of high seas and strong winds.

Northlink Ferries services between Aberdeen and Orkney and Shetland were also disrupted.

Heavy snow brought mixed fortunes for Scotland's ski resorts.

Cairn Gorm was stormbound, with the access road blocked after heavy snow showers. Up to 8in of snow fell at the Nevis Range centre near Fort William, causing drifts of up to 5ft.

The Lecht was also stormbound, following 2ft of fresh snow and white-out conditions. Glenshee said all its runs had full cover with fresh powder snow drifting on a packed base.

• Have you been affected by the wintry conditions?

Send your comments and photos to [email protected]

Avalanche risk

THE avalanche hazard in Glencoe remained high yesterday, a day after two climbers were swept hundreds of feet to their deaths on a Buachaille Etive Mor.

The pair were climbing on Curved Ridge when a slab avalanche knocked them off their feet and they plunged 1,500ft down the mountainside.

A third member of the party survived as he was not caught in the avalanche. He was assisted by two other climbers in a separate group, who then alerted emergency services.

Police had still not identified the victims last night, as some family had not yet been told of the tragedy.

Yesterday, the Scottish Avalanche Information Service (SAIS) advised climbers that the avalanche risk in Glencoe remained high above 600ft.

It said significant quantities of fresh windslab had accumulated in the mountains, mostly in the south and west.

Mark Diggins, of the SAIS, said there was currently an unprecedented situation in the mountains with a weak snowpack created in the past few days with fresh snow and strong winds on top.