Scotland's weather: Fresh snow warning as temperature hits record low

A new yellow weather warning has been issued for swaths of Scotland, with the winter freeze expected to bring heavy snowfall overnight into Monday.

The Met Office has warned that up to 10cm of snow could fall in part in Scotland overnight into Monday. Picture: Phil Wilkinson

Forecasters said that the wintry showers are expected to bring a further two to five centimetres of snow over parts of the northern mainland, but double that amount could fall over higher areas, causing disruption for commuters.

The Met Office’s yellow warning for snow and ice spans the Lothian and Borders area, Strathclyde, Central, Tayside, Fife, southwest Scotland, and Grampian, as well as the Highlands, Orkney, Shetland, and the Western Isles. The warning, issued earler this afternoon, extends to noon Monday.

With temperatures expected to stay well below freezing overnight, the Met Office said that ice was likely to be the main hazard, and it warned drivers they should expect longer journey times through the Monday morning rush hour.

Although Scotland was spared the heavy snow which has caused widespread disruption across the transport network in England and Wales over the weekend, there was a knock on effect for scheduled services at Scottish airports.

Four Flybe services from Edinburgh Airport to London City and Birmingham were cancelled, along with five BA and Easyjet flights to London.

Five domestic flights from Glasgow Airport were also cancelled, as well as Easyjet and KLM services to Amsterdam.

Four London-bound services from Aberdeen Airport were cancelled, including three BA flights to Heathrow.

Elsewhere, flights were temporarily suspended at two airports - Birmingham and Luton - due to bad weather, causing widespread delays for passengers.

Major roads were also crippled by the weather, with the M1 briefly closed near Leicestershire and the A5 in Shropshire also forced to shut down. Motorists were left stranded because of heavy snowfall on the M40 motorway, the A34 in Oxfordshire and the A5 in Milton Keynes, according to Thames Valley Police.

In the West Midlands, an NHS trust was forced to put an appeal out for 4x4 drivers to help stranded nurses get to hospitals.

It comes as temperatures plummeted across much of the nation in the early hours of this morning, bringing icy conditions.

In the Highland village of Dalwhinnie, the mercury dipped to -12.4C in the early hours of this morning - the lowest temperature recorded anywhere in the UK so far in 2017.

Elsewhere, the temperature stood at -11.9C in Braemar, -10.3C in Tyndrum, and -9C in Balmoral. However, it was not just the north of Scotland that endured the cold conditions, with the temperature falling overnight to -7.2 in Edinburgh and -5.9C in Paisley.

While the start of the week is expected to be mainly dry and bright, with occasional wintry showers, it is set to become increasingly unsettled from Tuesday night onwards, with bands of rain, sleet or snow crossing the country.

Met Office forecaster Steven Keate said: “The worst of the snow is currently across parts of Wales and the west and southern Midlands, while there is some snow falling over the home counties as well.”