Skiers enjoy the snow as Scotland shivers in a deep freeze
● Passengers suffer ‘severe disruption’ on key rail routes
Skiers at Cairngorm Mountain make the most of the conditions as temperatures in Scotland plummeted over the weekend. The mercury was expected to drop again last night, with the Met Office predicting temperatures of -10 or -11C. Police asked drivers to take care after a spate of crashes on icy roads
Scotland was locked in a deep freeze last night as emergency services dealt with a spate of crashes on icy roads.
Braemar in Aberdeenshire was the coldest spot in the UK on Saturday night, falling to -9.4C. It was expected to be even colder last night, with the Met Office forecasting -10C or -11C.
Police Scotland dealt with 25 road collisions and asked drivers to take additional care. They said: “Slow down and be mindful of conditions on roads that may not have been gritted.”
Transerve Scotland said temperatures on the Erskine Bridge in Renfrewshire yesterday morning had fallen to as low as -8C.
Even drivers in cities such as Glasgow encountered severely cold weather, when -5C was recorded in the suburbs.
The freeze coincided with problems on the trains, with Scotrail reporting “severe disruption” on the line between Aberdeen and Inverness.
There were delays on other routes, such as Edinburgh to Perth, Edinburgh to Fife and Glasgow and Edinburgh to Inverness.
A Scotrail Alliance spokesman blamed a signalling fault near Larbert in Stirlingshire. He said: “The cause of the fault is still being investigated, so it’s not known if it is directly weather-related.”
Marco Petagna of the Met Office said Scotland was feeling the effect of historic low temperatures sweeping the eastern United States.
He said the wintry blast in America was sending the jetstream plunging south, leaving Scotland exposed to bitterly colds winds from the Arctic.
He said: “The jetstream is very strong coming out of the United States, diving south towards Portugal and northwest Africa.
“We are on the cold side of the Jetstream, which has been responsible for the pretty low temperatures at the weekend.
“It would have got even colder at Braemar on Saturday night but some cloud came over to offer some protection.
“There are some signs that things will become less cold on Monday and Tuesday, with the temperature expected to drop once more on Wednesday night.”
The cold weather also raises the prospect of pipes freezing in houses.
The upside of the high pressure sitting over Scotland was that the whole country enjoyed long periods of sunshine yesterday.