Snow wiped out all of last weekend's SPL fixtures

The Scottish Premier League say plans to reintroduce a winter break are "very much under consideration".

The last eight scheduled matches in the top flight have been postponed because of the wintry weather.

The SPL are planning on all matches going ahead this weekend but the severe cold snap has led to widespread calls for summer football.

However, SPL chief executive Neil Doncaster favours an earlier start to the season with a January break.

"There is a lot of misinformation going around about the idea of a summer season," Doncaster told BBC Radio Scotland.

"There are only three leagues within the top 25 in Europe who have a summer-based season and one of those is I think returning to a winter-based season.

"If we were going to a summer-based season, then you would be having the climax to your season round about now, which would be far from ideal.

"There are a lot of people who believe that an earlier start to the season might be worth looking at, and that could create the scope to create a winter break.

MY SPORT: DEBATE Is summer football an option for Scotland?

"Statistically the games that have been most at threat over the last 12 years have been in January, so these conditions are hopefully very exceptional."

Doncaster will hold more meetings with representatives from the 12 SPL clubs in the coming weeks with changes to the calendar high on the agenda.

"There are a huge number of things we are looking at - the calendar, the league structure, the number of league bodies," he added.

"To get anything meaningful we need 11 votes and creating consensus on even the simplest things in football can be difficult. That's why it has taken so long.

"What we're trying to do is to rip up what we've got at the moment and replace it with something much better. I don't think there is any point in tinkering."

The SPL took the decision to cancel last weekend's fixtures last Wednesday but will delay their decision this week in hope of a thaw, amid fears of mounting fixture congestion.

Most managers agreed with the decision to postpone the last round of games but Inverness boss Terry Butcher dissented over the postponement of his side's home match with Dundee United.

He claimed that the A9 had been in a worse condition the previous weekend when his team travelled to face Celtic.

All 14 midweek matches in the Scottish Cup and Scottish Football League have been postponed due to the severe weather conditions.

Snow and ice has caused damage to the main stand at Tynecastle but Hearts are confident Saturday's match with Aberdeen will be able to go ahead.

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