Public warned to be on guard as freezing cold snap to continue

Bitterly cold weather and heavy snow showers are forecast to continue in Courier Country, with a Met Office red alert across Central Scotland, Tayside and Fife until 10am.

The mercury could drop to as low as -11C across Tayside and Fife during the early hours.

Almost 4in of snow is expected “quite widely” across the East Coast on this morning, but more than 1ft of it could land as “heavy showers” move in from the North Sea.

An amber warning of snow also remains in place for the whole of Tayside and Fife until 6pm.

The white stuff will continue to affect the local area into the weekend, with a yellow warning for snow in place from Friday morning until midnight on Saturday and another in force throughout Sunday.

Met Office spokesman Grahame Madge said the areas affected by the red and amber warnings could experience “very significant disruption”.

He said: “We have an amber warning out which is in force currently. It expires at 6pm on Thursday evening. It is for frequent and heavy snow showers feeding in off the North Sea.

“There is the potential for disruption to power supplies and mobile phone networks and of rural communities being cut off.

“We are looking at between 5cm-10cm (2in-3.9in) of snow, expected quite widely. Some areas up could see up to 40cm (15.7in).

“In addition to that we also have the red warning which does include parts of Fife. That is an extremely significant event and it is only the second time since 2011 that the Met office has issued it.

“It is an exceptionally rare event and obviously we hope that people recognise the significance of that and people do take heed.”

There is the potential for disruption to power supplies and mobile phone networks