Pupils' day off as snow sweeps in

Snow has been falling across most of the east of Scotland

Heavy snow has caused travel disruption and led to the closure of schools across Scotland.

All schools in Dundee and Midlothian were shut on Wednesday, along with 113 in Fife and 96 at the last count in Aberdeenshire.

The Arctic blast sweeping the country also led to closures in East Lothian, Falkirk, Angus and Perth and Kinross.

Police warned drivers to take extra care on motorways in the affected regions in the east of Scotland.

Heavy snow turned to slush on many major routes, with vehicles reduced to slow speeds in an effort to pass safely.

The blizzard-like conditions also led to poor visibility for many travelling through central Scotland and North Lanarkshire.

Travel alerts were also issued in Dundee, Perth and Kinross, and Aberdeenshire.

Emergency services in Lothian and Borders, where conditions were described as treacherous, asked motorists to avoid travelling unless their journey was necessary.

SCHOOL CLOSURES BY REGION Fife 113 Aberdeenshire 96 Angus 70 Midlothian 48 Falkirk 41 East Lothian 20 Borders 4 Highland 4 Perth and Kinross 3 West Lothian 2 Dumfries and Galloway 1 Stirling 1

In Dundee the local council has also announced that the city's community centres, libraries and leisure centres will all close at 1800 GMT due to the bad weather.

Smaller rural schools have been closed in many parts of eastern Scotland and some Borders schools were only open to local pupils as buses could not get in.

In other areas, pupils were bussed home as schools made the decision to shut.

Two schools in West Lothian have been closed - Cedarbank in Livingston and Hopefield nursery in Blackburn.

The local council said gritters had been working round the clock to try and keep roads passable through the snow showers.

A spokesman told BBC Scotland's news website: "We had a full backshift of eight vehicles out yesterday and a full nightshift of another eight vehicles worked throughout the night.

Your pictures of snow in Scotland

"We also had a fleet of mini-tractors out working on footways."

Forecasters predict the wintry spell is set to continue, and warn that more snow is on the way.

The forecast for Wednesday evening is for more snow showers, particularly in the north and east while the west of Scotland will be mainly dry with clear spells.

A cold night is expected with temperatures across the Highlands falling as low as -8C.

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