Severe weather preparations in place

Scottish Government resilience arrangements have been activated to ensure Scotland is as prepared as possible for the severe weather expected across the country tomorrow.

Ministers are being given regular updates with snow forecast across the day.

The Met Office has an Amber snow warning in place for the south of the country and difficult driving conditions are also expected across the central belt and much of the north where a Yellow snow warning is in place. It will be windy too, with a further Yellow warning issued.

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Details of the Met Office warnings are available at: http://www.metoffice.gov.uk/public/weather/warnings

Police Scotland is warning road users that there is a high risk of disruption on roads in the Amber warning area and is advising that extra caution is taken in the remainder of the country.

Transport Scotland is working with partner organisations to try to mitigate the effects of the wintry conditions and a Multi-Agency Response Team (MART), involving partner organisations, such as Police Scotland and our operating companies is being activated at the Traffic Scotland National Control Centre to monitor conditions and make sure that the public has the latest information.

The Trunk Road Operating Companies 24-hour dedicated winter maintenance fleet will be operating across the country. Teams will provide salt treatments in advance of the wintry weather and will continue to patrol throughout the risk periods, ploughing snow and gritting the roads as required. However, conditions are expected to be difficult.

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Rail and ferry passengers should check their travel operator’s website before they leave and be mindful of the conditions.

Transport Minister, Humza Yousaf said: “The Met Office is telling us that Storm Doris will bring a mixture of heavy snow, sleet and rain across central and southern areas and this will lead to poor driving conditions, especially around the Southern Uplands.

“Transport Scotland is working with the relevant organisations, such as Police Scotland and the road operating companies, to try to mitigate the effects of this latest set of wintry conditions but we would ask road users to be mindful that disruption is likely and to plan accordingly.

“We have more gritters available across the trunk roads this year than ever before and these will be out with patrols across the night and into tomorrow morning and beyond. There is plenty of salt available for treating the roads and the winter control rooms are monitoring conditions 24/7.

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“The winter gritter information page on the Traffic Scotland website pulls together all of the information about treatments, road heights and the Trunk Road Gritter tracker on one page so that people can check what is happening in their area. The Traffic Scotland twitter feed also has the relevant real-time information for the trunk roads.

“The advice is the same for those intending to use public transport. Passengers should check their travel operator’s website before they leave and be mindful that conditions could be difficult in some areas.”

Superintendent Fraser Candlish, Police Scotland Road Policing said; “With a substantial risk of travel disruption due to the weather, motorists should consider whether their journey is absolutely necessary. If you do decide to travel, check local advice and ensure your vehicle is well prepared before setting off.

“Keep yourself safe by adjusting you’re driving to suit the road conditions and leave more space between you and the vehicle in front. Plan for the worst case scenario by ensuring you have sufficient supplies, including food, water, warm clothes and a fully charged mobile phone. Road Policing crews will be patrolling the road network to keep people safe during this period - please follow our advice to travel with extra caution.”