The Met Office has issued a yellow warning for ice as bus services are hit by the wintry conditions.
The alert comes into force at 4pm today and lasts until 11am tomorrow. It covers Grampian, Highlands and islands.
The alert reads: “Ice is expected to form on some surfaces from late Tuesday afternoon and last overnight into Wednesday morning. The chance of this is highest across parts of Scotland and northern England where rain may fall onto frozen surfaces.
“A few centimetres of fresh snow are also likely on high ground, mainly across Scotland and northern England. There will probably be icy stretches on untreated roads, pavements and cycle paths with some injuries possible from slips and falls. There is also a very small chance of travel disruption across parts of Scotland and northern England.”
Check out this latest #Satellite picture. The bright blue shows the current coverage of lying snow across parts of Scotland, England and Wales! #Brrr pic.twitter.com/gA8O7NN2l5
— Met Office (@metoffice) 12 December 2017
The chief forecaster’s assessment adds: “A band of rain with some snow (this mostly on hills) will reach western Scotland and Wales on Tuesday afternoon and move quickly eastwards across all parts through the evening and overnight. Whilst a brief spell of snow is likely, mostly on high ground in the north of the yellow area, the main hazard is likely to be icy surfaces where rain falls onto frozen ground.
“This risk is greatest across parts of Scotland and northern England where the impacts could locally be greater than elsewhere. Temperatures may then rise a little for a time overnight before falling again by Wednesday morning as cloud clears, so ice remains likely. In addition, some wintry showers may affect western Scotland on Wednesday morning.”
The Met Office said last night was the coldest night of the year, with Drumnadrochit being the coldest in Scotland – reaching temperatures of -9.1 degrees.
Police warned motorists heading out this morning of ice on the roads. All approaches to the Granite City caused problems for drivers. Stagecoach tweeted this morning that a number of services were affected by the weather. The company said they were unable to service a number of areas including Ellon, Foveran, Cruden Bay and St Fergus.
And the wintry conditions also resulted in a number of schools being closed in the Highlands and caused transport issues and openings to be delayed at schools in Aberdeenshire.