New heavy snow warning for 'significant accumulations' in Scotland

Older people have been urged to “do everything they can to stay warm” as the wintry grip over Scotland is expected to tighten with temperatures forecast to dip to -10C in places by early next week.

A series of new and updated snow and ice warnings covering more of the country could bring “significant accumulations” on Sunday and Monday, the Met Office has said.

Temperatures are forecast to fall to -10C at Braemar in Aberdeenshire and -8C at Hawick in the Borders by Tuesday, and -4C in Glasgow and -3C in Edinburgh.

Age UK director Caroline Abrahams said the UK Government’s decision to limit the winter fuel allowance to only the poorest pensioners will be put “into sharp relief” by the cold snap.

She said the charity had already been contacted by older people “worrying about what to do when this moment arrived”.

From this winter, only people on pension credit or certain other benefits will receive the winter fuel payments while more than nine million others are set to be stripped of the allowance.

Ms Abrahams said: “We urge older people to do everything they can to stay warm, even if that means risking spending more on their heating than they feel they can afford.

“The energy companies are under an obligation to help if you are struggling and there may be support available from your local council too.”

The yellow extreme weather alerts from the Met Office are for Thursday night and between Sunday and Monday, when heavy snow that could disrupt travel is forecast.

A horse in a snowy field near Shottskirk Cemetery at Salsburgh in North Lanarkshire on New Year's Day | John Devlin/The Scotsman

A snow and ice warning has been issued from 4pm on Thursday to 10am on Friday for much of northern Scotland away from the west coast, and Orkney and Shetland.

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A separate ice warning has been issued for western Scotland, including Glasgow, along with the western half of northern England as far south as Manchester, and most of Northern Ireland, for 5pm on Thursday to 10am on Friday.

The Met Office said: “Scattered wintry showers will be replaced by a longer spell of rain and sleet for a time on Thursday night, particularly across western Scotland and Northern Ireland.

“As temperatures dip below freezing, this will lead to a risk of ice formation on untreated surfaces, especially inland.”

Meantime, a snow warning for the weekend that was issued on Wednesday has been pushed back to Sunday but now covers more of Scotland.

The Sunday snow warning will last until noon on Monday, and has been extended to most of Scotland apart from the north west Highlands, Caithness, north east Aberdeenshire, Orkney, Shetland and the Hebrides.

The Met Office said: “Outbreaks of snow will likely develop during Sunday and Sunday night, potentially giving some significant accumulations in places.

“The greatest risk is in southern and eastern Scotland, where 2-5cm may accumulate in quite a few places and perhaps as much as 10-20cm over high ground.”

It comes as multiple health boards across Scotland revealed the ongoing impact of winter pressures on Scotland’s health service.

NHS Lothian posted a message on social media advising members of the public that its accident and emergency services were “under extreme pressure,” the fifth such alert it has issued since Hogmanay.

In the latest message on X, it urged people not to attend its “exceptionally busy” emergency departments unless they were experiencing a “critical emergency”.

A spokeswoman for NHS Fife said that its A&E services had been “extremely busy,” with staff working “incredibly hard” over the festive period. She said that anyone attending A&E for a non-critical emergency may face a longer wait, or could be safely redirected elsewhere.

NHS Highland advised that its hospitals were “very busy” on Thursday, with waiting times in A&E “much longer than usual”.

Elsewhere, Scotland’s biggest health board, NHS Greater Glasgow & Clyde, has advised the public that its A&E services are “extremely busy,” with the front page of its website directing people to advice so as to provide them with the best urgent care.

NHS Tayside, meanwhile, said it was seeing an increase in respiratory illness in the community and in its hospitals. In an effort to help keep patients and staff safe, it asked people to only attend appointments and A&E with one other person, and to not visit patients in “big groups.”