Voters should miss worst of the December weather

Tayside and Fife folk will head to polls for first winter election in generations

Tayside and Fife looks set to miss the worst of the weather expected to blight the country during the first winter general election in generations.

Voters go to the polls tomorrow in the first December poll since 1923.

While the majority of Tayside and Fife is expected to be dry, the northern tip of the region could see some snow.

Outbreaks of heavy rain are expected elsewhere in the UK.

Political parties have urged voters to not be deterred by the wintry blast and turn out to make their voices heard.

A Met Office spokesman said: “In eastern Scotland, it looks like the area is going to remain largely dry.

“There may be some showers closer to the coast and there may be some snow showers inland and further north, in places such as Ballater and Pitlochry.

“But further down in Scotland it looks like it will be largely dry in comparison to the rest of the UK.”

Party members from across the spectrum urged voters to shrug off the inclement conditions and make an effort to get to the polling booths.

The Electoral Commission, the independent regulatory body which oversees elections, said votes will start “as soon as it was reasonably practical to do so” if the weather does cause issues.

A spokeswoman said: “Even if severe snow causes problems for getting ballot boxes from one area, they would still be able to get boxes in from other areas and commence the count.

“You don’t need to have all the boxes in before you start.”

There are fears for the Scottish Isles’ voters after councils covering the Western Isles, Orkney and Shetland all hired a plane to deliver votes.

The bad weather may mean delivering the ballot boxes to a central count could ground the flights, delaying the results.

The Western Isles plane will carry the ballot boxes from the islands of Barra, Vatersay, Eriskay and the Uists to the central count more than 100 miles away in Stornoway.

The votes from the southern isles will be delivered by road and, in the case of Barra, first by boat to Benbecula where the aircraft will then fly on to Stornoway.

It is hoped the decision to hire a plane – the fifth time the council has done so for elections – will ensure the result being declared at around 2am.