Dozens of schools to close for fifth day as new yellow weather warning issued

Many schools will remain closed for a fifth day on Friday as ministers warn the impact of severe weather across northern Scotland will “continue to be felt in the coming days”.

The Met Office has issued a yellow warning of snow and ice covering much of Scotland which comes into force at 8pm and runs until midday on Friday.

It comes after several days of “intense” snowfall, ice and sub-zero temperatures which have led to school closures and travel disruption in the north of the country.

More than 250 schools are due to remain closed on Friday, including more than 150 in Aberdeenshire, dozens in the Highlands and Aberdeen, and a number in Moray.

Many pupils will have had a whole week off school at the start of the new term, though remote learning has been provided in many cases.

A total of 278 schools were closed on Thursday across northern Scotland – “around 11%” of the school estate.

Some roads continue to be impacted by the snow and ice.

A section of the A74(M) motorway was closed in both directions after what Police Scotland described as “multiple collisions due to icy conditions”, but it has since reopened.

All “priority one” routes in Aberdeenshire and the Highlands are open, but impacts continue to be felt on smaller roads.

Traffic Scotland confirmed snow gates remain closed on the B974 Bridge of Dye.

Railway routes around the country have reopened, with the northern section of the Far North Line between Brora and Wick/Thurso being finally cleared of snow on Thursday evening.

Aberdeenshire Council declared a major incident on Tuesday, warning of a “good chance” some rural communities would be cut off, as well as the possibility of power cuts.

Ministers attended a meeting of the Scottish Government’s Resilience Room on Thursday afternoon, after which Justice Secretary Angela Constance provided an update on recovery efforts.

“Following five days of amber warnings and hugely challenging snow and ice conditions across northern Scotland, progress to fully recover continues,” she said.

“However, there are yellow weather warnings in place overnight for most of Scotland, and with Storm Goretti set to affect other parts of the UK and a cold but still unpredictable weather picture for Scotland over the weekend, it is clear that impacts will continue to be felt in the coming days.”

The yellow alert which comes into force at 8pm predicts wintry showers which will lead to patchy ice and some fresh snow.

It covers the country to just south of Fort William and as far west as Glasgow.

First Minister John Swinney earlier said that efforts had turned to recovery.

He said: “We’ve had a period of really intense and heavy snowfall in certain parts of Scotland, particularly the North East, the Highlands and the Northern Isles and the Western Isles, and the Government has been closely engaged with local resilience partnerships throughout that series of amber warnings, and those amber warnings have gone on for a prolonged number of days.

“The challenge with the snow has been, quite simply, the volume, and we’ve had formidable resources available in the North East and in the Highlands to clear transport routes on the trunk roads and also on the rail network, which is the responsibility of the Government.

“The priority one routes in Aberdeenshire are all clear, and progress has been made on priority two routes, and that’s the case in the Highlands as well.

“We are, however, thankfully, in a position where we are able to focus more on recovery than dealing with the immediate incident, and that very much is the focus of all local resilience partnerships, and the Government is supporting with the reallocation of resources where that is possible to do so.”

Assistant Chief Constable Alan Waddell, of Police Scotland, said: “Local resilience partnerships are continuing to meet to co-ordinate and deliver the response to disruption experienced by communities in the north and north east of Scotland following heavy snowfall over the weekend.

“We have been working closely with resilience partners across local authorities, other emergency service partners, transport partners, NHS and health and social care partnerships, and other local organisations to support communities affected by adverse weather and keep public services open where possible.

“Some services may be impacted by adverse weather and I would encourage the public to check on neighbours or relatives, if they are able to do so safely.”