Scots' snow misery goes on

Almost all Scotland has been affected

The icy blast which trapped hundreds of drivers in their cars and left thousands of people without power is continuing to cause problems in some parts of Scotland.

As many as 20,000 people in the Borders face being without power for the third night running.

Lothian and Borders Police are warning that drivers should leave their cars at home.

Major rail links between England and Scotland remained closed on Wednesday with rail services on the east coast main line further hampered following the train crash at Selby in North Yorkshire.

Power supplies have been hit

It is feared 13 people may have died, with more than 60 injured when a Newcastle to London GNER service was hit by a freight train.

ScottishPower said that they have had 10 helicopters flying over the Borders all day identifying where power lines are down.

A spokesman said the company had 800 engineers working to repair the damage, a process which will accelerate through Wednesday evening.

Police said that too many drivers are trying to make unnecessary journeys, getting stuck in the snow and waiting for police vehicles to drag them free.

They said this is slowing down the effort to get emergency crews to broken power lines and slowing down reconnections.

The volume of snow has made digging out difficult

The M74, the main link between the west of Scotland and northern England, has reopened, along with the M8 between Glasgow and Edinburgh.

All schools in the Borders, Mid and East Lothian have remained closed, as have a handful in the north-east.

All 81 primary and secondary schools in the Borders will also be shut on Thursday.

Other council services have been disrupted, but local authorities say they have managed to provide emergency cover for the elderly and infirm.