Schools closed across Scotland as Met Office warns of more heavy snow today, from the south-east of England to the north
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Hundreds of schools are closed across Scotland after heavy snow, with the Met Office issuing severe weather warnings across much of the UK.
Deep snow and freezing conditions in the north-east of England and Scotland are causing widespread travel disruption today, with icy conditions elsewhere creating similar problems for commuters.
Temperatures are set to plunge to -20C (-4F) in parts of the UK this week, after a weekend which saw record low temperatures for some areas.
Scotland and the north-east have been worst hit by snow, with more than 40cm in parts, with police advising people to stay put for all but essential travel.
Hundreds of schools across eastern and central Scotland have been closed, including all state schools in Edinburgh, the Lothians, Fife, Perthshire, Dundee, Shetland and Angus, with severe disruption to schools in Aberdeen and Aberdeenshire.
In North Lanarkshire, the council said its schools would remain open, but added that there would be no school buses laid on.
Commuters across eastern Scotland have struggled with sporadic closures of the main Edinburgh to Glasgow line, now running reduced services, and with significant disruption on the roads. Buses have been cancelled or had their routes heavily cut back, as gritters battle to keep major routes open.
Stuart Stevenson, the Scottish transport minister, said local councils had already stockpiled much larger reserves of grit and salt after last year's embarrassing planning failures left them unable to cope with the worst winter in recent times.
Even so, abandoned cars and jack-knifed lorries, including one that blocked a roundabout on the A9 near Dunblane, were creating even greater problems.
"We're experiencing quite ferocious weather conditions," he told BBC Radio Scotland.
Stevenson stressed that "much of the public transport network, while there are difficulties, is continuing to operate".
He added: "So I think we're doing fairly well and, of course, on salt, we now have some two months of salt at intensive use levels waiting in depots across Scotland for the worst of our weather."
Edinburgh airport was closed due to heavy snow yesterday, while several others saw disruption, Aberdeen suffering delays after snow-clearing and de-icing took place, and Newcastle International, Luton and Jersey also being hit.
The Met Office has issued severe weather warnings this morning across much of the east of Britain, warning of heavy snow from the south-east of England to the north. It warned of "as much as 25cm over some hills in northern England and Scotland".
Forecasters warned that the rest of the country is likely to be blanketed in snow this week as the weather front moves west.
"The snow will become more widespread from [this] evening and most places will get a dusting," said Aisling Creevey, of MeteoGroup, the weather division of the Press Association.
"There will be an increasingly high wind chill during the week and it will feel really raw."
The weekend's cold spell saw record low temperatures in some parts of the country over the weekend, with both Wales and Northern Ireland recording their coldest November nights since records began.
The mercury at Llysdinam near Llandrindod Wells in Wales plunged to -18C yesterday, while Lough Fea in Northern Ireland sank to -9.2C.
Many areas will see temperatures remain below zero today, with the warmest place being in the south-east, at a balmy 2C.
The Arctic conditions have been caused by a combination of light winds, snow cover and clear skies – and could see readings down to -20C in Scotland later this week.
The UK's lowest ever recorded temperature in November was -23.3C recorded in Braemar, in the Scottish Highlands, on 14 November 1919.
The AA said it dealt with double the normal number of breakdowns yesterday, while the RAC said calls were up a third. "This weekend has been extraordinarily difficult for many motorists as the cold and ice have made driving difficult and dangerous," said Alan Wilcock, RAC patrol ambassador of the year.
"With more bad weather forecast, the Monday morning commute is already looking very, very busy.
"Workers who travel by car may want to consider other options, such as working from home or another form of transport."
More snow showers are forecast for much of the country tomorrow, some quite heavy and prolonged, especially in eastern areas, with temperatures remaining very cold.