Glasgow Airport has been closed since early on Wednesday morning. The suspension is currently until 10.30. The airport said: "Our snow clearing teams are currently de-icing the runway in preparation of opening. Please check with your airline for specific flight information or refer to our website."

Image source, @allanbarr/via REUTERS

Stein Connelly, of Transport Scotland, told BBC Radio Scotland that gritter drivers worked through the night to clear the roads.

"We're seeing significant weather disruption on the network, we've got all our gritters out and ploughs working right throughout the day, right throughout the night, but we're still seeing significant challenges," he said.

Image source, Transport Scotland

He added: "The police are advising in the amber area don't travel on the roads but we're still seeing busy roads, incidents on them, cars coming off the roads, HGVs blocking and losing traction, and that stops our gritters getting out and on to the roads and keeping it clear, so the message is quite clear - avoid travel on these roads."

Image source, Aileen McManus

While some people have been battling the elements to get to work, others took the opportunity for a bit of fun.

It is not often you can snowboard in Glasgow's Queen's Park.

Jamie McIvor
BBC Scotland education correspondent

Every state school between Gourock and North Berwick is closed, It's the biggest day of disruption to education caused by the weather for several years.

On the mainland, only Dundee and South Ayrshire Councils have confirmed all their schools are open.

On social media, some parents have been asking why some councils could confirm closures yesterday while others waited until this morning.

While it's an unexpected day off for tens of thousands of children, closures at this point in the year are likely to cause fewer practical problems than they would have in December or January as exam prelims are out of the way.

People who live or intend to visit the parts of Scotland affected by the amber weather warning should avoid travelling on the roads, police have said.

Superintendent Helen Harrison said: “Overnight we have seen the weather worsen and the Amber warning across large parts of Scotland means we are urging people to avoid travelling on the roads for the duration of the warning.

“The forecast remains for frequent and heavy snow showers in the amber warning area and already, since midnight, we have seen various minor collisions and other incidents that we have responded to with emergency services colleagues.

Image source, Met Office

“This reflects the worsening driving conditions and hazardous road surfaces and people must consider if their journey is absolutely necessary. We are experiencing high levels of disruption on the roads and I would appeal to people not to put themselves and others at risk by travelling on the roads today.

“The command centre at Bilston will run for the duration of these severe weather conditions to allow us to closely coordinate with partners including Transport Scotland and the Met Office, give you regular updates on conditions and advice, and continue to be able to respond to other policing needs our communities across Scotland have."

The council areas which have closed all schools include:

Scottish Borders, East Lothian, Fife, Clackmannanshire, Edinburgh, Midlothian, West Lothian, Falkirk, Stirling, North Lanarkshire, South Lanarkshire, East Dunbartonshire, Glasgow, West Dunbartonshire, East Renfrewshire, Renfrewshire and Inverclyde.

A number of other councils including East Ayrshire, North Ayrshire, Aberdeen, Aberdeenshire, Angus, Moray, Perth and Kinross, Highland and Dumfries and Galloway have some closures.

All Dundee and South Ayrshire schools are open as normal.

A number of universities are also closed, including Glasgow, Strathclyde, Stirling and the University of West of Scotland.

There was no escaping the white stuff - even on the sleeper train to Edinburgh.

Mary Duffy was travelling into Scotland's capital when she spotted snow had worked its way through the gaps between carriages and doors.

Image source, Mary Duffy

Image source, Mary Duffy

In the Highland Council area, 69 schools are closed, mainly in Caithness and Sutherland. The closures involved more 7,300 pupils.

Find the full list here, external.

Humza Yousaf told BBC Radio Scotland's Good Morning Scotland programme: "What we have seen is, which is a positive, is a reduction in the number of people travelling."

Mr Yousaf said there had been a "number of issues" with HGVs and cars on the road, "particularly on higher ground".

Image source, Met Office

He added: "People, I hope, are heeding the advice of not only avoiding travel, but also extra time, and planning extra time for their journey where they can."

With the amber weather warning in place for much of Scotland until 18:00 on Thursday, Mr Yousaf said: "It might look OK as you open your curtains this morning if you are thinking of travelling out, but bear in mind progressively over the day the situation may get worse."