Driving chaos in freezing weather
FREEZING conditions brought dangerous driving conditions and delays to public transport across Glasgow.
Temperatures dropped to minus six on Monday as the predicted cold snap took hold.
Police Scotland urged motorists to take extra care on the roads after a total of 25 road collisions were reported between in an hour.
Drivers were reminded that stopping distances can be up to ten times longer in icy conditions.
An additional warning was issued to those defrosting their car not to leave them unattended after a number of vehicles were stolen across on the country on Sunday.
The lowest temperature recording overnight was minus 9.8C at Strathallan in Perthshire while the mercury dropped to minus 9C at Glasgow Airport.
Gritting was taking place across the city today to ensure the safety of drivers and pedestrians.
Glasgow City Council confirmed they had deployed gritters overnight to prepare priority routes for rush hour traffic.
Bus routes and school and ambulance drop-off points were covered by staff who will be out at various points throughout the day.
During previous cold weather, the council were forced to bring in private contractors to support over 200 staff to grit the roads after backlash from the public.
Commuters also faced delays on the railways as icicles appeared on overhead lines.
Trains were unable to stop at Johnstone station due to the obstruction on Monday morning.
Icicles on the overheads between Bellgrove and High Street also caused delays.
Staff were put on site to remove the ice which caused delays for over an hour.
Frozen ‘points’ at Perth meant that routes going to and from Glasgow were either delayed or cancelled.
Glasgow Queen Street to Aberdeen, Dundee, Inverness and Perth were affected by the section of the track being frozen.
A spokesman for ScotRail said: “We had an issue with large icicles which formed underneath a railway bridge near Johnstone.
“As a result, services between Glasgow Central and Ayr, Ardrossan Harbour and Largs were subject to delays and cancellations between approximately 7am and 9am.”
The cold weather is expected to continue throughout the week with sleet expected for a short spell on Wednesday.
Ian Robinson, of the Met Office, added: “We’ve started to see a pick-up in wind speed from the south and there should be a cloudy spell of weather coming.
“The very low minimums of the past few days are probably not going to be repeated.
“It may be down to minus 3C tonight but generally minimum temperatures will not be as low due to increasing wind and cloud.”