People are being urged to take care as a warning for ice – covering many north and north-east roads and pavements – remained in place until 10am today.
The alert came into force at 5pm on Thursday and remained in place until 10am today.
It follows after the Highlands, Islands, Moray, Aberdeen, Aberdeenshire have experienced heavy snow and a myriad of yellow and amber weather warnings this week.
It appears delays on many roads will continue today as many report hazardous icy conditions.
The Press and Journal revealed today that A&E admissions due to trips and falls tripled yesterday across NHS Grampian.
What are the roads like?
Snow showers and frosty temperatures have caused delays to motorists travelling this morning with some roads remaining shut.
The snow gates on the A939 have now opened after being closed for several days.
Motorists travelling in Wester Ross, Strathperffer and Lochalsh have been urged to take “extreme caution” due to ice as treatment of roads is ongoing. The coast road is “passable with care”.
The Bealach na Ba between Tornapress and Applecross remains closed due to high winds and drifting snow.
In Caithness and Sutherland, The Highland Council is warning residents of black ice with roads continuing to be gritted for most of the day.
The B9007 Duthil to Ferness road was closed, but opened at 3pm.
Morning folks, Urquhart Castle is currently closed due to icy conditions (Fri 20 Jan). We'll keep you updated. #HSclosure pic.twitter.com/xiJVjHycwU
— Historic Scotland (@welovehistory) January 20, 2023
Due to the icy conditions, Urquhart Castle in Drumnadrochit has been closed for the day.
Around 350 tonnes of salt used on Aberdeen roads
In Aberdeen, a lot of areas in and around the city have been described as an “ice rink” with some residents already reporting falls from slippery pavements.
This is despite Aberdeen City Council gritting primary routes and pavements twice overnight.
The council said gritters are now treating secondary routes and pavements and will remain operating throughout the day. There are more details on where is being treated on their website.
Solid ice pavements are always fun #Aberdeen pic.twitter.com/n3kzSeeh7v
— Ian Leach (@posbyonechop) January 20, 2023
However, due to the road conditions there have been many delays on city roads with the council warning bin collections due today will also be affected.
Those impacted should still leave their bins out as they may be emptied at a different time than usual.
We’re aware pavements and roads are very icy this morning due to rain which then froze overnight. We gritted roads twice last night (7pm & 4am) & priority 1 pavements too.
We’re gritting secondary routes & priority 2 pavements just now & more details to come.
Please take care ❄️ pic.twitter.com/oQofYXGtS6— Aberdeen City Council (@AberdeenCC) January 20, 2023
A few crashes have occurred with one in Cults involving a car and a First Bus.
Another incident just off the AWPR at Milltimber left a lamppost lying on the road.
All primary routes in Aberdeenshire are being treated by gritters but those travelling are being warned of icy patches on many roads.
A ship carrying 3,500 tonnes of salt arrived in Aberdeen Harbour today to replenish supplies, bringing the total for the week to 7,000.
The A944 at Alford was blocked in both directions following a crash at the Kingsford turn off.
Transport delays
Stagecoach Highland announced delays are expected today in and around Inverness due to the adverse weather.
The signalling system at Dalwhinnie was frozen this morning and affected ScotRail services between Edinburgh and Inverness.
Teams at the location were working to defrost it as temperatures in the area remain at -7C. Operations are now back to normal.
UPDATE: The latest update from @NetworkRailSCOT is that the signal is currently frozen and they're trying to defrost it. The current temperature at the location is -7 degrees. 🥶❄️
— ScotRail (@ScotRail) January 20, 2023
Meanwhile, Stagecoach Bluebird has said in Westhill, Aberdeenshire, services will not be able to access certain areas until roads have been gritted.
FirstBus announced the Service 15 would not be serving Countesswells until further notice due to road conditions.
High winds have cancelled the Ullapool to Lochmaddy service. The service only started running on January 16 due to the usual departure point Uig Harbour undergoing an upgrade until March 13.
A technical issue has cancelled the Mallaig – Armadale Calmac service. Several other sailings between Mallaig will also face cancellations and delays today.
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