Polar air will keep Scotland freezing for the rest of this month, which is already shaping up to be the coldest November on record.
Snow and ice affected large parts of the country yesterday, sparking a spate of crashes on the roads.
While many will see some blue skies this weekend, forecasters say it is merely a brief respite before more wintry showers return on Monday.
A yellow Met Office “be aware” warning for ice was in place overnight for all of Scotland except the east coast, lasting until 10am today.
A band of rain, sleet and snow was due to cross the country from north west to south east during the night. As skies cleared, this would result in icy patches on untreated roads, pavements and cycle paths by morning.
Snow was also predicted to fall, mainly on higher ground in the north of the country this morning.
Looking ahead, forecaster Grahame Madge of the Met Office said: “I’m afraid we are looking at more of the same for Scotland. The country is trapped under a northerly airflow, which will make things feel really cold.
“Showers are working their way down, wintry in the west and around the Moray Firth.
“From Sunday morning, through to the middle of next week, this cold northerly air flow remains in place.
“There may be a slight respite from Sunday into Monday, but Tuesday onwards remains in this airflow, bringing showers particularly on the east coast.”
Police said they received “numerous” calls from anxious motorists about ice-rink conditions on roads in Dumfries and Galloway.
Dumfries and Galloway Council said they had 15 gritters out “all day”.
Scotland TranServ, which is responsible for trunk roads such as A74(M) and A75, said it had more than 30 gritters out on the road from early Thursday afternoon.
The odds on it being the coldest November ever were slashed to 2-1 (from 5-1) by bookmaker Coral yesterday after the firm received a flurry of bets.
It is odds-on that snow will fall somewhere in the UK on Christmas Day.
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