Snow causes school closures and traffic chaos

An amber "be prepared" weather warning which expired at 11am had warned of strong and gusty winds, snow drifts and blizzard conditions at times across most of Scotland.

The Met Office has now issued a yellow "be aware" warning of snow and ice across the whole country until 11am tomorrow.

In Dumfries and Galloway about 80 schools were shut today while in the Highlands 41 schools and nurseries were closed.

Three schools in the Borders, eight in South Lanarkshire and two in South Ayrshire were also closed.

Police in the Highlands said roads were passable with care while in the Grampian region motorists have been advised to drive with caution.

In Fife a man was taken to hospital following a collision involving a bus and two cars in wintry conditions.

Emergency services were called to the scene on the A92 eastbound between Lochgelly and Kirkcaldy just before 7am today.

Firefighters removed a man from one of the cars and he was taken to Victoria Hospital in Kirkcaldy for treatment.

Elsewhere, a missing woman was found unconscious following a three-hour search in blizzard conditions yesterday.

Tweed Valley mountain rescue team (MRT) was called out at 5pm on Wednesday to help in the search for a missing woman in the Innerleithen area.

Rescue 177, a Royal Navy Sea King Helicopter from HMS Gannet, was scrambled and used its infrared camera to assist in the search, which also involved three-year-old search dog Rauour and handler John Romanes.

Three hours into the search Rauour found the casualty, who was unconscious, about 30ft off a forest track. She was airlifted to hospital.

Tweed Valley MRT deputy team leader Dave Wright said: "The conditions were pretty bad with strong winds and driving snow - it's safe to say that the combined efforts of John and Rauour, Tweed Valley MRT, police and the Royal Navy saved the woman's life."

BEAR Scotland, which manages and maintains the trunk roads in the north east and north west, advised people to take precautions before setting out.

Eddie Ross, BEAR Scotland's north-west operating company representative, said: ''The north-west, parts of the north-east and the M80 have experienced heavy snow showers throughout the night, at all levels on most routes.

"Our winter teams have been working throughout the night and all routes in the north-west and north-east are open, although conditions remain very challenging.

"Our teams are continuing to patrol and treat routes as necessary to help manage the adverse conditions.

"This will continue throughout the next 24 hours as the winter weather is forecast to continue.

"We encourage motorists to prepare well for their journeys and drive with care whilst these winter conditions continue.''

Transport minister Derek Mackay said authorities were well prepared for the weather.

He told BBC Radio Scotland: "The road network is flowing fairly well, maybe a bit slower but still flowing.

"I think we've prepared very well for the weather and the snow with 180-plus gritters out. We've worked hard to prepare the roads for these conditions."

Forecasters predict that the cold snap will continue into next week.

Helen Rossington, a forecaster with MeteoGroup, said: "Today we're going to have further snow showers coming in mostly across the north and west of Scotland.

"There may be a respite through this evening but more snow showers will move through tonight. It will be quite windy and will move south through the early hours.

"Most of the snow will be over the high ground. There will be wintry showers tomorrow and next week looks cold with more snow and wintry showers."

Police Scotland advised motorists to prepare well for the conditions before setting off and ensure they have enough fuel, warm clothing, food and drink and a charged mobile phone.

Network Rail said that all lines were open and that the network was flowing reasonably well.

A spokesman said: "We've had lots of snow but lots of preparation with snow ploughs out through the night on some lines and engineers out as well."