Dundee United's pitch fails Sunday pitch inspection

Scottish football has been hit again by the freezing weather

Two Scottish Premier League Boxing Day matches have been called off because of the freezing weather.

Dundee United-Hamilton was postponed on Sunday after Tannadice failed a pitch inspection, while Kilmarnock-Hearts was called off on Friday.

The Scottish Football League faces almost a complete wipeout, with 11 matches off.

Partick Thistle and Alloa's games are on after pitch inspections but the Dunfermline-Falkirk match is off.

The Scottish Premier League said a combination of frozen pipes in three of the four stands at Rugby Park and concerns about the pitch due to a fault in the protection system caused by the severe weather prompted the call off.

At Tannadice, a frozen area of the pitch in front of the Shed end was concerning ground staff and officials and after a third inspection their game against the Accies was called off.

Motherwell had plumbers working to repair burst pipes in their south stand ahead of their game against Rangers.

Scottish football fixtures have been badly affected for four weekends in a row.

There is now a backlog of 61 matches in the Scottish Football League compared to 11 at the same stage last year.

In addition, three Scottish Cup third-round replays have faced a series of postponements.

Dunfermline's First Division game against Falkirk was called off on Sunday after East End Park failed a pitch inspection.

However, Partick Thistle against Raith Rovers goes ahead, as does Alloa v Livingston in Division Two after pitch inspections at Firhill and Recreation Park.

The postponements include Monday's Division One game between Ross County and Cowdenbeath in Dingwall.

Matches off on Sunday, 26 December

Scottish Premier League

Dundee United v Hamilton
Kilmarnock v Hearts

Scottish First Division

Dunfermline v Falkirk
Queen of the South v Dundee
Stirling Albion v Morton

Second Division

Airdrie United v East Fife
Brechin City v Ayr United
Dumbarton v Forfar Athletic
Peterhead v Stenhousemuir

Third Division

Annan Athletic v Berwick Rangers
East Stirlingshire v Albion Rovers
Elgin City v Clyde

Monday, 27 December

First Division

Ross County v Cowdenbeath