Snow hits west and central Scotland

Motorists are being urged to drive with care after snowfall overnight brought disruption to Scotland’s roads.

Police services in Strathclyde, Central, Tayside and Dumfries and Galloway have issued warnings to drivers to “travel with caution” with snow and ice affecting the roads.

Conditions on the Scotland’s busiest motorway the M8, were described as “difficult” near Harthill with traffic moving slowly after the recovery of two lorries stuck in snow.

Early morning commuters on the M8 were faced with tailbacks when a car crashed into the central reservation while travelling west-bound near Harthill and two lorries became lodged in the snow.

Lying snow is causing problems on the M77 between Kilmarnock and Glasgow.

The M74 in South Lanarkshire was also experiencing difficulties this morning while TrafficScotland reported that the Aberfoyle to Kilmahog road in Stirlingshire is closed in both directions and the Erskine roundabout is closed to eastbound traffic.

The north of the country and the East has had little snow but ice has caused problems for travellers.

Riverview Drive in Dyce, Aberdeen remains closed after an ambulance carrying two paramedics and an 84-year-old female patient came off the road.

The vehicle hit some trees around 03.40am today and the paramedics, a 49-year-old male and a 51-year-old female, and the patient were taken to Aberdeen Royal Infirmary.

Police said the man sustained leg injuries and the female paramedic sustained minor injuries. No further information was available regarding the 84-year-old woman.

The road remains closed while an investigation into the cause of the crash is carried out. Police said it was not yet clear if the bad weather played a part in the accident.

Around 6cm of snow fell in Bishopbriggs, Glasgow with more in higher areas, and temperatures fell as low as -9.5 C in Braemar in the north of the country.

Michael Dukes, of Meteogroup, said the snow is pushing south and into England through the day.

He said: “With the snow pushing south the weather in Scotland will be fine this afternoon.

“It will remain cold with clear skies leading to frost overnight and there may be some isolated sleet and snow showers on the western fringes of the country into tomorrow.”

The forecast for the weekend remains cold but with snow only forecast for a short period in the west of Scotland.

Temperatures will remain low until Wednesday when a more mild weather band will bring temperatures of around 8 C.