Scotland weather forecast: ice warning in place across the country

An ice warning has been issued for Scotland.

Cold weather is set to blast parts of the country this morning.

The Met Office has issued a yellow weather warning for ice across the south, central and northern parts of Scotland.

The cold conditions could cause disruption across the country including injuries from people falling on icy surfaces.

Ice weather warning issued for most of Scotland

A Met Office spokesman said: “Showers are likely to persist over parts of Northern Ireland, west Scotland, northwest England and north Wales overnight.

“These will leave surfaces wet with icy stretches likely to form, particularly on untreated surfaces.

“Some snow is likely to fall over higher routes but any accumulations will be small and only affect a few sites.”

Although heavy downpours have eased, authorities have advised of possible traffic disruptions on Monday morning owing to the continuing flood situation.

Local authorities will be faced with significant clean-up operations once flooding risks subside and water levels reduce.

Thousands of homes and businesses were flooded as areas were deluged by more than a month's worth of rainfall in just 24 hours, while some 127,000 properties were protected by flood defences this winter, authorities said.

Some 15 rivers in the Midlands, Yorkshire and Lancashire recorded their highest levels on record and the Environment Agency warned the country needs to brace itself for "more frequent periods of extreme weather like this" because of climate change.

The downpours, which started with Storm Ciara and continued with Storm Dennis and then Storm Jorge, contributed to record river levels which saw hundreds of emergency staff working on flood defences and pumps, clearing debris and repairing damaged defences across the country.

The Government has said it is investing £2.6 billion in flood defences by 2021.More than 3,300 properties in England are thought to have been flooded as a result of the combined effects of storms Ciara and Dennis, the Department for Environment Food and Rural Affairs said.