Weather warnings will be in place for parts of Scotland until late tomorrow afternoon with rain, sleet and snow forecast, as storm Clodagh batters Scotland.

Wintry showers will persist until 2pm in some areas with motorists using the M74 urged to take particular care.

The Met Office has issued yellow warnings for much of Scotland while residents in the far north and south west were told to prepare for flooding.

A Met Office spokesman said today: “Wintry showers will continue overnight for much of the country, including in the south west corner and the central belt. There will be fewer showers further east.

“We could see snow down to low levels and there will be some ice on untreated roads. It is still windy and will remain so overnight, particularly in western coastal areas.”

Commuters are also warned to expect difficult conditions on the roads tomorrow morning.

The Met Office spokesman said: “We have issued a yellow weather warning for snow and ice until 10am.

"There is an area of low pressure across southern Scotland so we could see rain sleet and some snow, perhaps on the M74 and into the Glasgow and Edinburgh areas until 2pm on Monday.

“The greatest risk is across the Galloway hills and on higher stretches of the M74, however it will move quickly across the south of Scotland and will clear away later.

“As we go through into the afternoon we will see much drier and brighter weather, hopefully with some late sunshine across the Glasgow area. Showers will become increasingly confined to the north.

“Temperatures overnight will be around 0C or 1C and will not go above 5C or 6C on Monday.”

Storm Clodagh arrived from the Atlantic yesterday and battered the country for most of the day.

Heavy rain and strong wind forced local authorities to cancel their Christmas lights switch-on celebrations. 

The plug was pulled on events in Cambuslang in South Lanarkshire and in Irvine and Kilmarnock in Ayrshire.

A Flood Warning was issued by the Scottish Environment Protection Agency for Dumfries and Galloway where some householders were asked to take “immediate action”.

Flood Alerts – one level below a Flood Warning - were also issued for Orkney and Shetland. Residents were told “flooding is possible”.

Flooding closed one lane of the Clydeside Expressway yesterday afternoon and surface water was affecting many other routes.

On the A82 at Tyndrum a jack-knifed lorry cause delays for drivers yesterday, while Traffic Scotland also reported cars and lorries were stuck in snow on the A9 at Dunkeld and the A90 north of Dundee.

The Erskine Bridge and Skye Bridge were closed to high sided vehicles and strong wind also affected the Kessock and Dornoch bridges.

Cross-Border trains on the east and west coast main line were delayed due to speed restrictions, with fallen trees causing further problems on the west coast route.

Tree branches temporarily blocked the Glasgow-Dumfries line at New Cumnock in Ayrshire.

The gales peaked yesterday afternoon with winds in Dundrennan reaching 75 mph.

Storm Clodagh has now headed into the North Sea and wind is expected to lessen over the next few days.