Gritters are out… at the double!
TRANSPORT chiefs last night ordered their gritting crews to treat all routes twice ahead of a fresh wave of snow and ice.
Forecasters have warned that the entire country could suffer snowfalls this morning as an Atlantic weather front collides with Arctic air over Scotland.
Higher areas could be hit with up to two inches of snow, with even heavier snow showers expected tonight.
Met Office forecasters say the snow will be accompanied by sub-zero temperatures, leading transport bosses to take action designed to keep traffic running.
They warned that temperatures could fall as low as -11C tomorrow night in some rural areas where snow is already on the ground.
A spokesman for carriageway clearing giant Amey posted on social media yesterday: ‘Double-treating all routes. Frontline patrols will be treating where required.
‘We’ll have 32 gritters out on South-West Scotland’s trunk roads from this afternoon.’
Met Office spokesman Martin Bowles said: ‘Some areas will get the snow, other areas may be lucky to miss out. However, where it does fall, the amounts we are talking about are fairly significant.
‘Things will remain very cold for the rest of the week but Wednesday night looks like being the coldest. There’s a forecast of -11C on the snow fields of the Grampians for Wednesday night. This is just above -13.7C, the coldest night of the winter so far, which was recorded at Altnaharra in Sutherland on January 21.
‘But even towns and cities will feel very cold, with -4C in Glasgow and possibly -5C in Edinburgh.’
The first Met Office yellow ‘be aware’ warning for snow and ice expires this afternoon at 3pm. The second, for snow showers and ice, lasts until 10am tomorrow. It states: ‘Some transport disruption is possible, with longer journey times and delays to public transport.
‘Icy patches are likely to develop on some untreated roads, pavements and cycle paths, leading to an increased risk of accidents.’
It comes only weeks after motorists and lorry drivers were stranded overnight on the M74 in Lanarkshire as heavy snowfall and ice brought treacherous driving conditions.