Scotland's weather: Amber warning in place for parts of Scotland with snow and ice warning issued for the weekend

An amber weather warning is in place today with much of Scotland covered in snow and ice as the cold snap continues across the country.

The amber warning in place for parts of Scotland with snow and ice warnings being issued by the Met Office, with a second yellow weather warning for snow and ice in place for Sunday.

The amber warning is in place today until midday for Central Tayside and Fife regions, Strathclyde, and South West Scotland and the Borders. Snow showers are expected to move eastwards across the country initially falling to low levels, with 5 to 10 cm accumulating in places n two to three hours. From late morning, snow at low levels will turn to sleet or rain, but further snow is likely above 200 metres where up to 20 cm may accumulate by afternoon.

Meanwhile, a second yellow weather warning is also in place until 9pm tonight for much of the east coast, central belt, south Scotland and parts of the Highlands with warnings more snow could be on the way, Outbreaks of sleet and snow will spread across much of southern, central and western Scotland through Friday with 1-3cm of snow likely in places below 200 metres.

Those travelling have been urged to plan ahead and take caution when commuting following days of severe winter weather that has impacted the country.

More than 100 schools across Aberdeenshire, Moray and the Highlands have also been closed as a result of heavy snow.

In Shetland, power has been restored to hundreds of homes as engineers are continue to make “significant progress” in battling outages caused by the weather.

A “major incident” was declared on Shetland earlier this week as snow and ice accumulated on overhead power lines, causing them to break and leaving thousands without electricity as temperatures plummeted.

An amber and yellow warning are in place across Scotland

Teams from Scottish and Southern Electricity Networks (SSEN) Distribution have reconnected about 750 homes and businesses in parts of western mainland Shetland, Voe and Brae, on Thursday.

A further snow and ice warning is in place from 3am on Sunday until 9pm for much of Scotland and the UK.