Snowfall is trigger for goodwill gestures

Snowfallonascalenotseen since in the Central Belt since the 1990s prompted many good Samaritans to rally to the aid of those in need.

They included neighbours grabbing shovels and brushes to clear a path in South Queensferry for a pregnant woman to get to hospital to have her baby, while Lothian Buses double decker driver Charmaine Laurie, 45, avoided tragedy by swerving out of the path of a car which had lurched into her path.

The heartstopping incident, which was caught on another driver’s dashcam, happened as she was driving 20 passengers through a blizzard along Frogston Road, She said: “My heart was in my mouth.”

At Anstruther in Fife, lifeboat volunteers braved the so-called “Beast from the East” storm to deliver medicines to snowedin residents including at a sheltered housing complex. Meanwhile, people from a village near Falkirk handed out hot drinks and food to drivers stranded on the M80.

In Edinburgh, the Western Toyota dealership offered a 4x4 to help doctors and nurses get to work at hospitals in the capital.

St John’s Episcopal Church on Princes Street in Edinburgh transformed itself into a temporary 24-hour shelter bolstered by food donations from social enterprise Harry’s Bar and Tesco.

Ewan Aitken of the Cyrenians said it was extraordinary what had been done.

“People have been in touch to offer to help and volunteer – and at the moment we have lots of help but what is vital is that people know what there is available to them.

“We need the public to be our eyes and ears. Tell us of people who are out there and may need support.”

City of Edinburgh Council staff were praised by their leader Adam Mcvey.