The Met Office issued a warning about icy roads to Highlands drivers last night.
Forecasters feared that rain expected to fall across the region overnight would wash grit and salt off the roads and plummeting temperatures could freeze the rain before routes could be retreated.
A wind warning was also in place for today with gales expected over the Western Isles.
Up to 2in of snow had fallen on low levels across the Highlands by 6am yesterday, with up to 4in on higher ground.
Met Office spokes-woman Laura Young said: “What we are more concerned about is the risk of ice overnight. We have a severe weather warning out for Wednesday which covers the Highlands and islands.
“A deep area of low pressure that has been sitting over Iceland will move towards the North Sea on Wednesday and it is going to bring a lot of rain to a lot of Scotland in the early hours of the morning. The cold air is going to return behind that so the rain is turning back to snow, sleet and hail.
“This will lead to icy stretches on roads. The roads will have been gritted overnight, but the risk is that it could be washed off by the falling rain and there is a possibility of a quick freeze before the roads are gritted again.”
Temperatures were to get down as low as -2C last night and are not expected to reach much higher than 3C today.
Ms Young said the strong winds and scattered showers will ease by Thursday and the weather is to be very settled, but cold, from tomorrow through to Saturday.
Seven vehicles were involved in a road crash on the A9 at Tore near Inverness.
Police said four of the vehicles were badly damaged in the collision on the north side of Tore Roundabout.
Emergency services were called out after 11am yesterday.
The road was partially blocked as a result of the crash. However, no one was understood to have been seriously injured.
Highland Council’s road condition report for yesterday said Lochaber had experienced frost with a dusting of snow on lower roads and up to 1in on higher routes with a similar situation in Nairn. All routes in these areas were treated as a priority.
In Badenoch and Strathspey temperatures fell to -3C with up to 1in of snow covering most routes.
Black Isle, Mid and West Ross experienced up to 4in of snow on higher routes and around 1in on most routes.
The council reported Inverness seeing a patchy dusting of snow and patchy grey frost on low roads with a 1in covering of frozen snow on high roads.