Scotland weather: Travel disruptions announced as country prepares for heavy snow and rain

ScotRail has announced travel disruptions and a yellow weather warning is issued as Scotland prepares for heavy snow and rain.

The Met Office has predicted that heavy snow and rain will hit the west and north coast of the country throughout Monday.

A yellow weather warning has been issued for these areas.

A statement from the Met Office warns: “Rain will become persistent and heavy at times during Sunday, continuing on Monday.

"Rainfall accumulations of 60 to 80mm are expected over high ground.

"In addition, there will be a thaw of lying snow adding to the flooding and travel difficulties.

"The rain will turn back to snow on high ground from the north later on Monday before clearing.”

Travel disruptions expected as yellow weather warning issued.

ScotRail has published a list of services changes that have been put in place for safety reasons, including speed restrictions on several lines.

The lines affected are Inverness to Perth (Highland Mainline), Inverness to Aberdeen, Inverness to Kyle of Lochalsh / Wick and Crianlarich to Oban, Fort William and Mallaig (West Highland Line).

A statement on ScotRail confirms: “If you're making an essential journey, please do check the ScotRail app or ScotRail.co.uk.

"These speed restrictions will affect the number of trains which can run on these routes and journey times will be extended.

“Scotland's Railway Integrated Control team will be monitoring the weather, river telemetry, areas prone to flooding and coordinating the railway's response.

" Our teams on the ground will inspect structures in worst affected areas and we're proactively checking pumping kit before the rain arrives.”

A message from the Editor:Thank you for reading this article. We're more reliant on your support than ever as the shift in consumer habits brought about by Coronavirus impacts our advertisers.

If you haven't already, please consider supporting our trusted, fact-checked journalism by taking out a digital subscription.