New Year’s Day snow brings traffic misery for motorists

Regions above 984ft (300m) could see as much as 4in (10cm), it is predicted, but drifsts arrived at lower levels during Wednesday morning. 

Gritters and snow ploughs were deployed on the A9, the main route into the Highlands, with motorists facing hazardous winter conditions. 

Drivers struggle through the A9 snow (Image: Peter Jolly) Communities are also being warned to prepare for a risk of flooding by the Scottish Environment Protection Agency (Sepa), which issued 32 flood warnings, and nine flood alerts; however, no “severe” flood warnings are active. 

The Met Office said: “Rain turning to snow is likely to lead to some travel disruption and difficult driving conditions on New Year’s Day.” 

It added: “A band of rain will turn increasingly to snow at low levels as it moves south Wednesday morning, then clearing to snow showers in the afternoon, which will continue overnight and through to Thursday morning. 

“1cm-3cm are likely at low levels with 5cm-10cm above 300m, leading to difficult driving conditions and some travel disruption.” 

Snow had been predicted by the Met Office (Image: Peter Jolly) On New Year’s Eve, some parts of Wick in the far north of Scotland were so badly flooded that ScotRail said no rail replacement buses would be running. 

A post on X read: “Due to multiple flooding issues along the Far North route, the Wick/Thurso line is now closed for at least the remainder of today. As bus companies have stated that road conditions are too hazardous here, we’re unable to supply bus replacements along this route.” 

Trains will resume on January 2, with no services on New Year’s Day. 

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A snowplough on the A9 (Image: Peter Jolly) A spokesman for Transport Scotland said: “Although the amber warning and the worst of the conditions has now hopefully passed, we would still urge the public to check before they travel. Please drive to the conditions, follow police travel advice, and allow extra time for your journeys. 

“There is still a fair amount of localised flooding and a number of weather warnings remain in place. We’ve chaired another call with our key operational partners and the Multi Agency Response Team to ensure operating companies have suitable resources in place. 

“We are grateful to staff who are out working 24/7 in challenging conditions to help keep most major roads open, with care and caution.”