Amber weather warning extended

Members of the public are being urged to avoid travel in areas covered by the Amber warning for snow – which has been extended into Friday morning.

The amber warning is in place for much of Scotland until 10am on Friday, meaning people should continue to expect extensive disruption to travel and difficult road conditions.

The Met Office have decided to extend the Amber warning by a further 16 hours, with the clear advice to continue to avoid any unnecessary travel. For those who do travel, long delays and cancellations on bus, rail and air travel are to be expected.

A further meeting of the Scottish Government’s Resilience Room (SGoRR) was held this morning, to ensure preparations and appropriate measures are in place. The meeting was chaired by Deputy First Minister John Swinney and attended by the First Minister and the Transport Minister.

Mr Swinney said:

“Conditions continue to be treacherous across much of Scotland, which has led to the decision by the Met Office to extend the Amber warning for snow overnight and through the Friday morning rush hour, signalling the potentially life-threatening nature of the extreme weather.

“Throughout today and into tomorrow morning, the clear and unequivocal advice for people in affected areas is not to travel unless it is absolutely necessary to do so.

“Clearly there are pressures on our emergency services and we thank those individuals for going above and beyond in difficult conditions. Work is also underway, as a matter of urgency, to ensure essential staff in our hospitals can get to work.

“I would encourage employers to continue to show flexibility for their staff, because safety is paramount.  I would urge people to continue to look out for the vulnerable in their communities during these difficult conditions.”

Background

The Scottish Government is in close contact with local authorities to monitor schools and services in the area. Adverse weather conditions are also causing disruption to health services with elective and outpatient appointments being cancelled.

• A map of the area affected can be found on the Met Office website.
• The Scottish Government’s Ready Scotland campaign provides the public with a range of advice and information on preparing for winter weather.
• For real time journey information visit Traffic Scotland or call 0800 028 14 14