Drivers worst affected as winter strikes
Winter weather brought tricky driving conditions for drivers across Stirling area at the weekend.
Hail, sleet, snow and rain battered the area for much of Saturday, leading to routes in remote areas becoming dangerous.
On the B818 in Carron Valley, there were reports of three cars coming off of the road at one troublesome bend in the space of just 24 hours.
A large white Hyundai vehicle went off the road, colliding with a mast.
A Stirling Council spokesperson said: “The B818 through Carron Valley is a priority two route and was gritted early on Saturday morning, along with all other priority two routes.
“This followed the announcement of an amber warning from the Met Office, which indicates a danger to life and disruption to travel.
“Priority two routes are roads where an average of 600-800 vehicles travel daily in both directions. Priority one routes are roads that have an average daily flow greater than 800 vehicles, link to emergency services establishments and primary and secondary schools.
“Priority one routes account for roughly 43 per cent of the total road network in Stirling (438.3km) and became the focus of our gritting action at the weekend due to unforeseen changes in the weather which differed from the forecast.”
In preparation for winter weather, the council provides a Carriageway Winter Service for a period of at least 25 weeks from October 19, 2018 to April 12, 2019.
The authority’s Footway Winter Service commenced for 21 weeks on November 2 to March 29, 2019.
The wintry weather led to the cancellation of Stirling Albion’s fixture with Albion Rovers.
In Stirling, the temperature peaked with a high of two degrees Celsius and a low of one degree Celsius.
Stirling Weather, which uploads data from an amateur weather station located at King’s Park, noted that Saturday’s wintry weather, frost excluded, was the first in the Stirling city area this winter. December 15 was the latest date for the first wintry spell, since their records began in 2009.
Volunteers from Trossachs Search and Rescue (Trossachs SAR) were drafted in to assist NHS workers reach critical care patients.
Stuart Ballantyne, its chairman, said: “On Friday, having been alerted to the Met Office warning for snow and ice being raised to amber level for the Trossachs area on Saturday, we ensured that we had members booked for duty shifts on all three of our 4x4 vehicles from Friday evening through to Sunday morning.
“On Friday afternoon NHS Forth Valley asked us to be on standby to assist them with transporting staff to critical care patients at home or other tasks. We had a 4x4 based in the areas of Dunblane, Callander, Aberfoyle and Drymen.
“As it was, demand for ambulance services was lower than normal during the period and we received no calls for assistance from either the Scottish Ambulance Service or NHS Forth Valley.”
A Trossachs SAR crew in Balfron assisted several motorists who had slid off the road or lost traction on roads leading into the village.
At around 11pm on the Saturday evening a local farmer and the Balfron crew assisted an elderly man whose car had slid off the road near Buchlyvie by towing it back onto the road. He was uninjured.