Amber warning for Snow

The Met Office has issued severe weather warnings for snow across large parts of Scotland for this evening and tomorrow morning’s rush hour. The worst of the conditions are expected in the South East and The Shetland Islands, which are covered by Amber, Be Prepared warnings. A wider Yellow, Be Aware, warning is in place for much of South and Central Scotland. Ice is also forecast in the far North tomorrow morning.

Details of the weather alerts are available at: http://www.metoffice.gov.uk/public/weather/warnings.

The weather is expected to worsen around this evening’s peak period and with snow forecast overnight there is also a high risk of disruption for road journeys into tomorrow morning.

Transport Scotland is working with partner organisations, including Police Scotland and the transport operators, to try to mitigate the effects of the wintry conditions. Our Multi-Agency response team is being activated at the National Traffic Control Centre.

The Trunk Road Operating Companies winter fleets will be out across the country, with teams treating and patrolling the roads to react to any incidents, but conditions are expected to be changeable and motorists should follow Police advice.

Passengers should check their travel operator’s website before they leave and be mindful of the conditions.

Transport Minister, Derek Mackay said:

“A wide range of agencies and organisations have their response plans in action to try to mitigate the effects of this latest set of wintry conditions but it is likely that there will be disruption to the transport network.

“The weather is forecast to deteriorate this evening and these conditions will last into tomorrow morning across the peak period when people are traveling to work.

“We have more gritters available across the trunk roads this year than ever before and these will be out with patrols across the day and night. There is plenty of salt available and the winter control rooms are monitoring conditions 24/7 to ensure that the fleet is treating and patrolling where required.

“Drivers should listen to Police advice, check their route is available and leave some extra time for their journeys. Live information on conditions is available on the Traffic Scotland Twitter feed, smartphone App, internet radio and website.

“The advice is the same for those intending to use public transport. Passengers should check their travel operator’s website before they leave and be mindful that conditions could be difficult in some areas.”