Travel chaos as ice causes 25 car crashes in just an hour

● Rail delays and school closures as temperature dropped overnight

Icy conditions caused a spate of road crashes and disruption to services across Scotland after the mercury plunged to almost -10C in some places.

Police dealt with 25 traffic accidents in a single hour as drivers faced treacherous conditions as they headed to work yesterday morning.

At 8am Police Scotland tweeted: “Road traffic collision reports are coming in fast this morning … 25 in the last hour alone. These sometimes cannot be avoided, but please remember that stopping distances can be up to ten times longer in icy conditions.”

The lowest temperature recorded was -9.8C on Monday morning at Strathallan airfield in Perthshire, according to the Met Office.

Lows of -9.4C were charted in Aboyne in Aberdeenshire and Tyndrum in Perthshire.

Thermometers dropped to a chilly -9C at Glasgow airport and -8C at Edinburgh airport overnight.

Freezing conditions also caused problems for rail passengers, with icicles on overhead lines meaning trains were unable to stop at Johnstone station in Renfrewshire in the early part of the day.

There was disruption for pupils on the first day of the new term as a number of schools were closed due to heating or water problems caused by the cold weather.

Engineers had to be called out after a car crash brought down live power lines near Kingsfield golf driving range in Linlithgow, causing an interruption to supplies in the surrounding area.

In Glasgow, temporary road works were put in place as an operation to remove a buildup of icicles on the roof of Charing Cross tunnel was carried out.

Three schools in Fife, two in Highland and two in Dumfries and Galloway were shut as the cold weather took its toll. Heating failures also saw closures in Angus, Falkirk and East Renfrewshire.

Meanwhile, police warned motorists to stay with their cars while clearing windscreens of ice after reports of opportunistic thefts.

“Do not leave your car unattended when #defrosting,” they said in a tweet.

“We know it’s cold, but your insurance won’t cover you if you start it up and walk away. A number of vehicles were taken yesterday across #Scotland.”

The chill is expected to ease slightly in the next few days,

0 Water splashed on the side of the A702 in the Scottish Borders create an icy spectacle except in the far north-west of Scotland.

Forecasters said temperatures will rise as a band of cloud moves in across most of the country, bringing showers to many parts and the possibility of snow in the mountains.

Met Office spokesman Oli Claydon said: “A large body of cloud is continuing to move northwards into today. This will keep temperatures a little milder overnight, with most places escaping a frost.

“The exception is the very far north-west, where skies will remain clear and freezing conditions are likely to continue.

“There’s a similar picture as the week wears on – temperatures will go up and down a bit, but today will be cloudy with some drizzle for many.

“Some rain will move in overnight tonight and into Wednesday, and could fall as snow in the mountains.

“As we go through Wednesday, that rain will clear. It’s a much clearer, brighter day on Thursday before further rain moves in on Friday evening.”

Scotland Transerv said it will be deploying 32 gritters overnight in the south-west.