Laura Cummings: Don't get caught cold again by the big freeze

IF you're a Premier League footballer like Anthony Stokes, travelling from place to place during the cold snap probably hasn't been an issue.

The 22-year-old Celtic striker reportedly paid a 600 taxi fare to get home from the players' Christmas bash on Saturday night, from London's West End to Broxburn.

For the rest of us, many of whom will be planning to travel to other parts of the country, or further afield, to be with relatives and friends on Christmas Day, things won't be as easy.

With more snow predicted to fall between now and well into the new year, and with the east coast of the country to be particularly affected next week, travel could prove to be a major problem once again.

Trains, cars, buses and planes have already ground to a halt on a number of occasions during the severe weather, and there appears to be no guarantee that people won't be faced with a similarly grim scenario again, with temperatures predicted to fall as low as -10C in some parts of the Lothians in the run-up to Christmas.

Here, we offer some advice on what to expect while travelling.

Road

Around 5000 AA members said they were likely to travel more than 100 miles over the Christmas period, while six per cent of the 15,000 members surveyed will complete journeys of more than 500 miles. During the last bout of snow, almost every major motorway in the central belt was closed due to ice and snow, including the M8 for a period of two days, with scores of motorists forced to sleep in their vehicles overnight after getting stuck in mammoth queues.

Motorists are being warned that they should be prepared to cancel their festive journeys at the last minute if conditions turn out to be as bad this time.

"The motorway closures are probably unlikely to happen again over Christmas but it's very unpredictable. We don't know what will happen," said Neil Greig, director of policy and research at the Institute of Advanced Motorists.

"I would hope that over Christmas people will heed the warnings from police. If they say don't make non-essential journeys, then don't go out.

"If you do have to travel, try to stick to the motorways and main trunk roads and you will have a better chance of getting through."

Visit www.transportscotland.gov.uk/road for live traffic updates.

Air

Edinburgh Airport is on standby as further snow and sub-zero temperatures threaten more disruption.

The airport was closed for four days during the recent heavy snowfall, with passenger numbers down 125,000 as a result.

Passengers hoping to travel through the airport over the festive period are being urged to keep an eye on the weather forecast and the airport website, as well as contacting the particular airline to check flights are still running.

A spokesman for the airport said: "It's difficult to predict the impact of the snow that is forecast. It was the level and frequency of the snow in the last bout that meant we had to close. It depends very much on the snow but we are ready and geared up as much as we can be for what's coming.

"Our snow teams made a superhuman effort to manage the snow the last time and they're now rested and will be back ready for the coming snow, however hard it hits us."

Visit www.edinburghairport.com.

Rail

The East Coast Main Line looks likely to be disrupted by the weather.

Met Office forecaster John Hammond said: "Initially it will be the north and western parts of Scotland that are affected, but as the wind changes direction through the weekend and into next week, it will be the east coast."

ScotRail said that "more wintry weather may cause disruption" to services throughout the festive period.

The train operator said it was working on getting trains back into service and improving customer communication, but warned that there could be further delays and cancellations during the next bout of snow.

It has used the respite in the weather to get trains back into service following damage caused by frozen blocks of packed snow and ice.

Steve Montgomery, ScotRail's managing director, said the company planned to run as many services as possible but warned that the train fleet was not yet at full strength.

He added: "We're working to get trains back into service following damage caused by frozen blocks of packed snow and ice falling from undercarriages and bouncing back upwards. In the meantime, some trains will have fewer carriages."

You can keep up-to-date on timetable alterations by visiting www.scotrail.co.uk.