Cold Arctic air is set to bring snow, ice and travel disruption to Scotland on Monday as wintry weather continues sweeping parts of the country.
A yellow weather warning for snow and ice was issued by the Met Office as temperatures are expected to plunge over the coming days.
Forecasters issued yellow weather warnings of snow and ice for much of the north of the country, which has been in place since 12am on Sunday and is expected to last until 11.59pm on Monday.
The warning for frequent snow showers spans Stonehaven and Aberdeen in the east to Skye and the Western Isles.
All parts of Scotland north of these areas are likely to be affected, with temperatures as low as -4C expected.
The Met Office warned travel disruption is possible with some roads and railways affected, and longer journey times by road, bus and train are likely.
It also warned of icy patches on roads, pavements and cycle paths, and said there is a small chance that power cuts will occur.
Mobile phone services may also be affected, and snow-covered roads may lead to stranded vehicles.
On Sunday night, ScotRail announced that some early morning services between Perth and Inverness had been cancelled due to the expected bad weather.
In an update to customers, ScotRail said: “Following the advice of Network Rail, the decision has been made to cancel some early morning services between Perth and Inverness.
“Please remember to check your journey before travelling on our app, website and JourneyCheck.”
The affected services were as follows:
- 6.47am Kingussie – Inverness
- 8.38am Edinburgh – Inverness, terminating at Perth
- 8.43am Inverness – Glasgow Queen Street, will only run from Perth to Glasgow.
There are alternative services before and after the 8.38am and 8.43am services although journeys will take longer.
Network Rail said it had been taking “proactive steps” to protect the Highland Mainline between Perth and Inverness from signal failures.
It said that deicing fluids at critical junctions where trains can swap tracks was applied on Sunday night as well as setting the direction of those junctions overnight to allow the first trains of the day to run.
Meanwhile, Traffic Scotland said closures will be in place on the A93 Braemar to Spittal of Glenshee and the A939 Cockbridge to Tomintoul due to snow.
The freezing weather is set to continue throughout the week as a yellow weather warning for snow and ice covering the entirety of the country on Tuesday lasting from 12am until 11.59pm was issued.
Forecasters added that there is a chance the warning could be escalated to an amber level within the next 24 hours.
Frequent snow showers are set to continue into Wednesday and Thursday with a yellow warning for snow set to be in place covering parts of the west and northern Scotland.
Lasting from 12am on Wednesday until 11.59pm on Thursday, wintry weather will continue to sweep across Aberdeen, Aberdeenshire, Moray, the Highlands, Western Isles, Dumfries and Galloway, Argyll and Bute, North Ayrshire, South Ayrshire, and both the Orkney and Shetland Islands.
It comes after snow was forecast to hit parts of northern Scotland on Sunday as cold air from the Arctic brings chilly temperatures.
A yellow weather warning was previously issued for snow and ice in place all day on Sunday and into Monday, covering areas including the Highlands and the Orkney and Shetland Islands.
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