AIR and rail passengers in Scotland have been hit by delays due to the snow storms sweeping across England and Wales.
With the temperature plummeting, a number of incidents were reported on icy roads in Scotland while travellers suffered the knock-on effort of mass cancellations at airports such as Heathrow, caused by the snow storms in the south east.
Rail services were also affected by the bad weather.
In Aberdeen three British Airways flights from Heathrow were cancelled as was a Flybe flight from Birmingham.
Flights to London City and Heathrow were cancelled from Edinburgh Airport.
Glasgow Airport chiefs said there were a total of 17 flights scrapped.
Spokesman Gordon Robertson said the airport itself had no issues and all cancellations were caused by problems south of the Border.
He said: “We have all our snow teams on alert and our main issue at the moment is de-icing aircraft.
“The London airports are affected, in the main Stansted and Heathrow.
“We have a number of flights to London and the Midlands every day and those are bearing the brunt of it.”
Meanwhile, a Range Rover was left dangling precariously with its bonnet and front wheel in the Water of Leith in Currie, Edinburgh, after a mishap.
An image was tweeted by local councillor Scott Arthur accompanied by the caption: “Winter impacts spotted on my bike to work today.”
A labrador was rescued by abseiling coastguards from rocks yesterday after it fell more than 30ft from clifftops near Cruden Bay, Aberdeenshire.
Scottish Fire and Rescue Services, Peterhead Lifeboat and Peterhead and Cruden Bay coastguard rescue teams were dispatched.
Members of Cruden Bay Coastguard abseiled down the cliff and retrieved the dog which had suffered cuts and was in shock.
Temperatures plummeted to five degrees below zero yesterday, leaving untreated roads, grass and vehicles themselves covered in ice and frost.
Heavy snow in England and Wales saw hundreds of schools close, thousands left without power and flights delayed yesterday, including at Heathrow where passengers complained of waiting hours for travel to be rescheduled.
The Met Office extended yellow weather warnings for snow and ice to cover London and the South East, much of the Midlands, Northern Ireland and Wales, as well as the eastern coast of England and northern and western Scotland. Overnight temperatures were expected to drop as low as -15C, potentially beating Sunday night’s UK low of -11.6C in Chillingham Barns, Northumberland.
Met Office spokesman Grahame Madge added: “We are not expecting too much more in terms of fresh snowfall and the risk now transfers to ice.”
“We have got fairly widespread clear skies, which will bring temperatures down and where there is lying snow, that creates an ice risk.”
Meanwhile, the clear skies are expected to present a perfect opportunity for sky-watchers to see shooting stars later in the week.
The Geminid meteor shower, which returns every December, is predicted to be one of the most dazzling ever.An almost absent moon will ensure that the meteors will be seen, with the best time to look skywards between 1am and 2am on Wednesday and Thursday.
Robin Scagell, vice-president of the Society for Popular Astronomy, said: “They’ll be very good because there’s virtually no moonlight getting in the the way.”
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