New weather warnings as snow grips north for ninth day

People across Scotland are being warned to prepare for more snow and ice as the north and north-east of the country enters their ninth consecutive snow day.

The Met Office has issued yellow warnings for snow and ice across much of the country from 12:00 on Friday until 15:00 on Saturday, and between 02:00 and 15:00 on Sunday.

But many schools are still closed, including more than 160 in Aberdeenshire, 78 in Aberdeen and 63 in the Highlands.

Most main roads in Aberdeen, Aberdeenshire, Moray and Highland have been cleared, but people are being advised to check before they travel.

Aberdeenshire Council is asking residents to send them photographs of the snow where they live to help road clearance teams plan their work.

It said it was assessing the severity of the snow across the 3,500 miles of roads and streets in the area.

The council's chief executive, Jim Savege, said the conditions were the worst experienced in the region for "decades".

"We have continued to make some great progress getting our road network - 3,500 miles of it – clear," he said.

"Some more snow is forecast for Sunday, so we are going to take stock day by day. Whilst we've made some excellent progress, we may have a bit of a step back on Sunday with more snow coming in."

Overnight the temperature hit a low of -13.3C in Braemar, Aberdeenshire, while snow more than 10in (27cm) deep has been recorded in Altnaharra, Sutherland.

The yellow warning on Friday and Saturday covers much of Scotland:

• Central Tayside and Fife
• Aberdeen, Aberdeenshire and Moray
• Highland
• South-west Scotland, Lothian and the Borders
• Glasgow and much of the west of Scotland

Sunday's yellow warning covers:

• Aberdeen, Aberdeenshire and Moray
• Highland
• Orkney
• South-west Scotland, Lothian and the Borders
• Glasgow and much of the west of Scotland.

In Aberdeen, streets remain covered in snow, with drivers still having to scrape their cars clear.

On the roads, Highland Council said the A836 Lairg to Tongue road was shut due to drifting snow at Crask and north of Altnaharra, while Traffic Scotland said snow gates are shut at the Spittal of Glenshee to Braemar, Cock Bridge to Tomintoul, and at Bridge of Dye.

ScotRail said a 10-mile stretch of the railway line between Adrgay and Lairg in the Highlands had been closed in both directions due to heavy snow.

It had previously said it hoped to run a full timetable on Friday and it urged customers to check their journey on its app or website as delays were possible.

Police Scotland urged people to continue following travel advice.

In Inverness, Highland Council said "large grit bags" had been placed at key locations around the city.

It said it would allow communities "to top up existing grit bins themselves" while local authority road teams worked on clearing routes.

The difficult driving conditions have caused problems for businesses reliant on the transportation of goods.

Bruce Mackie, an organic dairy farmer from Peterhead, said his business has taken an £8,000 hit due to a missed milk collection earlier this week.

He said: "It has shown how dependent it is on getting gritters and snow ploughs out.

"It is a whole supply chain issue, we need to get that milk collected, it then goes to the processor, they pasteurise it, bottle it and put it back out to store.

"It makes us appreciate the things we don't see and take for granted day to day."

The Scottish government's resilience room met on Friday afternoon to discuss its response over the coming days.

Justice Secretary Angela Constance said: "As we enter a second consecutive weekend of weather warnings with continued snowfall and cold conditions forecast, I appreciate parts of Scotland are still not back to normal.

"While progress on recovery by partners continues at pace, I again want to thank the public for their patience and understanding that full recovery takes time.

"It is therefore really important for people to continue to plan ahead this weekend and check the range of weather, travel and flooding advice available.

"Ministers will continue to do everything that we can to monitor and manage the situation."

First Minister John Swinney thanked gritter drivers, depot staff and police dealing with the wintry weather during a visit to Aberdeen on Friday.

"Those who have been working very hard to clear the transport network, whether that's on the roads or the rail network, have done an incredible job to deal with intense periods of winter weather," he said.

And he warned the public to remain vigilant about the weather conditions to adjust their plans according to the latest warnings from the Met Office.

The New Arc Wildlife Rescue centre near Ellon in Aberdeenshire said it had received a high volume of reports of unwell and struggling birds as well as deer involved in collisions with vehicles on the roads.

However co-manager Paul Michael Reynolds said conditions had had a significant impact on the charity's ability to attend rescues and they had experienced a power cut earlier this week.

He said: "Wildlife will be struggling in these conditions, particularly to find food and unfrozen water, as well as suitable shelter for some species.

"We would encourage people, where they are able to do so safely, to provide fresh water and species-appropriate food during periods of poor weather."

On Thursday, an Aberdeenshire farmer in a tractor towed a family with a newborn baby home to Maud, after their car was blocked by heavy snow.

Parents Grace and Jake Ballantine Morgan said they were "eternally grateful" to arrive home with baby Frank, who was born on Wednesday at Peterhead Maternity hospital.

Meanwhile, the Dundonnell mountain rescue team revealed that they helped two teenage climbers to safety in wintry conditions on Monday night.

The pair, who were well-equipped, raised the alarm when they got into difficulty in the Loch Toll an Lochan area east of An Teallach.

And Network Rail said that three of their workers rescued a woman and her two dogs after she fell in deep snow near Insch station in Aberdeenshire on Monday.

The firm said Joanne Reid, 60, was completely hidden from view in deep snow and unable to get back to her feet due to mobility issues.

But a team of workers - Darren Stalker, Stuart Fraser and Allan Rough - heard her cries while clearing snow from the railway lines and helped her to safety.

Reid, who says she was lying in the snow for up to 15 minutes, said: "I really believed that if I hadn't got somebody soon, the dogs and I could've been dead."

"They say all heroes don't wear capes, and that's exactly what they were. Wearing bright orange safety gear and hard hats. They are my heroes," she added.