Calendar An icon of a desk calendar. Cancel An icon of a circle with a diagonal line across. Caret An icon of a block arrow pointing to the right. Email An icon of a paper envelope. Facebook An icon of the Facebook "f" mark. Google An icon of the Google "G" mark. Linked In An icon of the Linked In "in" mark. Logout An icon representing logout. Profile An icon that resembles human head and shoulders. Telephone An icon of a traditional telephone receiver. Tick An icon of a tick mark. Is Public An icon of a human eye and eyelashes. Is Not Public An icon of a human eye and eyelashes with a diagonal line through it. Pause Icon A two-lined pause icon for stopping interactions. Quote Mark A opening quote mark. Quote Mark A closing quote mark. Arrow An icon of an arrow. Folder An icon of a paper folder. Breaking An icon of an exclamation mark on a circular background. Camera An icon of a digital camera. Caret An icon of a caret arrow. Clock An icon of a clock face. Close An icon of the an X shape. Close Icon An icon used to represent where to interact to collapse or dismiss a component Comment An icon of a speech bubble. Comments An icon of a speech bubble, denoting user comments. Comments An icon of a speech bubble, denoting user comments. Ellipsis An icon of 3 horizontal dots. Envelope An icon of a paper envelope. Facebook An icon of a facebook f logo. Camera An icon of a digital camera. Home An icon of a house. Instagram An icon of the Instagram logo. LinkedIn An icon of the LinkedIn logo. Magnifying Glass An icon of a magnifying glass. Search Icon A magnifying glass icon that is used to represent the function of searching. Menu An icon of 3 horizontal lines. Hamburger Menu Icon An icon used to represent a collapsed menu. Next An icon of an arrow pointing to the right. Notice An explanation mark centred inside a circle. Previous An icon of an arrow pointing to the left. Rating An icon of a star. Tag An icon of a tag. Twitter An icon of the Twitter logo. Video Camera An icon of a video camera shape. Speech Bubble Icon A icon displaying a speech bubble WhatsApp An icon of the WhatsApp logo. Information An icon of an information logo. Plus A mathematical 'plus' symbol. Duration An icon indicating Time. Success Tick An icon of a green tick. Success Tick Timeout An icon of a greyed out success tick. Loading Spinner An icon of a loading spinner. Facebook Messenger An icon of the facebook messenger app logo. Facebook An icon of a facebook f logo. Facebook Messenger An icon of the Twitter app logo. LinkedIn An icon of the LinkedIn logo. WhatsApp Messenger An icon of the Whatsapp messenger app logo. Email An icon of an mail envelope. Copy link A decentered black square over a white square.

Icy blast to hit north and north-east before gale force winds bring wintry showers and potential coastal flooding

Gritters out on the roads.
Gritters out on the roads.

Icy conditions are expected to sweep across northern Scotland, prompting the Met Office to bring forward its yellow weather warning.

The Met Office had already issued a warning for tomorrow and Wednesday, with winds of up to 70mph and snow expected across Grampian and the Highlands.

But now it has told people to expect wintry showers and icy stretches in Aberdeenshire, Moray and the Highlands from 3pm today.

The Met Office said: “With cold air spreading south across Scotland bringing wintry showers, icy stretches are expected to form by late afternoon. Some snow showers are likely but ice is expected to be the main hazard during the afternoon and evening before snow starts to accumulate overnight and becomes an additional hazard.”

Motorists are being advised to be prepared for some potentially difficult driving conditions, such as reduced visibility and untreated roads.

Winds of up to 85mph could hit Orkney and Caithness

Forecasters are still expecting strong winds to batter the region from 10am tomorrow, which is likely to bring “frequent wintry showers”.

Gusts of up to 60-70mph are likely in exposed coastal areas, while Orkney and Caithness could be hit by wind of up to 75-85mph for a brief period over lunchtime.

Although the Met Office expect the wind to ease across the board during the late afternoon and into the evening, they have advised travellers to expect disruption.

Ferries may be cancelled and there may be delays for high-sided vehicles on exposed routes and bridges.

Train services may also be impacted, with wet weather already delaying the West Highland Line today.

Coastal communities on flood alert

The Met Office has also warned coastal communities there could be a risk of flooding caused by large waves, and Sepa has also put out alerts.

Sepa say that due to the “combination of spring tides, a surge, wind and waves” could cause coastal flooding, with the greatest risk at high tide.

The yellow wind warning is in place for Aberdeen, Aberdeenshire, Moray, Highlands and Western Isles, Orkney and Shetland.

Forecasters have left the snow warning in place until 9am on Wednesday.