THE widow of a man who died after being struck by a car which had a learner driver at the wheel revealed he was weeks away from becoming a father within weeks.

 

Kirstine Hutchon, 36, revealed her husband Chris, who died on a snowy country road in Aberdeenshire, had everything to life for as she was due to give birth to their baby soon.

Mr Hutchon, 37, an IT consultant, was stuck by the car on the A93 road at the Bridge of Gairn near Ballater on Sunday afternoon.

The Skoda Fabia car was being driven by a supervised learner driver when the car collided with Mr Hutchon leaving him fatally injured at the scene.

Mrs Hutchon, 36, revealed that the couple had married only two years ago and were expecting a baby over the next few weeks.

She said: "Chris had everything to live for and we are absolutely devastated by what has happened.

"We met ten years ago and we had lived at Bridge of Gairn Farm for the last three years. We were married at the farm in September 2013 and Chris was due to become a dad in the next few weeks."

Mr Hutcheon, who graduated from St Andrews University in 2000, loved travelling and was "passionate" about the outdoors, she added. He often snowboarded in the French Alps.

They had moved back to Ballater from Falkirk, where Mrs Hutchon grew up and set up a riding school.

She added: "Chris was a much loved husband, son, brother, uncle and friend to many. He was a good person and would always help others.

"He had a great zest for life, always pursued his goals and was a very active person."

Police are investigating the cause of the crash.

Sergeant Rob Warnock, from the Aberdeenshire and Moray Road Policing Unit, said: "This was a tragic incident which has resulted in a 37-year-old man losing his life. Our thoughts are with his family at this time.

"Enquiries are continuing and I am looking to trace a vehicle that may have been on the A93 at the time of the collision travelling in the opposite direction of the Skoda.

"I would ask that if the driver or occupants of the vehicle saw anything or saw the Skoda vehicle prior to the collision contact Police Scotland on 101."

It came as forecasters warned motorists to take care as up to 10cm of snow is predicted to fall in parts of Scotland today. [tue]

A yellow weather alert for snow and ice is in place from 5am until 3pm, predominantly affecting the west of Scotland from Dumfries ad Galloway to the southern Highlands and covering the majority of the Central Belt.

Poor weather conditions could disrupt travel, the Met Office warned, with outbreaks of sleet and snow expected along the west coast in the morning before edging northeastwards across central and southern Scotland as the day goes on.

These will fall on to cold surfaces leading to a risk of some icy stretches, especially across western Scotland in the morning. Upland routes through the Borders and the Southern Highland at at risk from more prolonged snowfalls with further accumulations of 5 to 10cm possible on the highest routes.

It comes after temperatures plunged to their coldest all winter overnight from Sunday into Monday, with a low of -12C at Loch Glascarnoch and Tulloch Bridge recorded in the Highlands.

The freeze came after a week of wintry weather which caused a string of train cancellations and culminated last Friday in transport gridlock amid heavy snowfalls in Glasgow and the west of Scotland.

The hazardous conditions have been blamed for an increase in admissions to Accident and Emergency departments over the weekend.

A spokeswoman for NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde said: "All our accident and emergency departments have been busy with patients attending with various illnesses including winter viruses and injuries sustained as a result of a slip or fall caused by the recent icy weather.

"Plans are in place to ensure that patient activity can be accommodated and this is under constant review.

"Our staffing levels remain appropriate and credit must be given to our staff who continue, as ever, to rise to the challenge of the busy winter period."

A spokeswoman for NHS Lanarkshire said Wishaw General had experienced an increase in patients being admitted for trip and fall injuries in the last few days.

Meanwhile, a woman was seriously injured after apparently falling off a sledge in a busy Glasgow park.

Paramedics were called to the incident in Kelvingrove Park, near Kelvin Way, in the city's west end, just after 3.30pm Sunday.

The Scottish Ambulance Service said the woman was taken to the Western Infirmary and later transferred to the Southern General Hospital, which specialises in treating head injuries.

In a separate incident, a nine-year-old boy was airlifted to hospital after being injured in a sledging incident in Ayrshire.

Black ice has been a major source of problems, while some motorists were unable to even start their journey this morning.

The AA said workers had attended 10,000 breakdowns nationwide by 1pm with the busiest areas in Glasgow and Edinburgh.

RAC spokesman Simon Williams said: "We are in red alert status and had attended 2,750 breakdowns by 11am - twice as many as we would do on a normal Monday morning. This means we will probably help around 10,000 motorists by the end of the day."