A night trail run due to be staged in the Borders on Saturday has been cancelled due to the bad weather.

The Mighty Deerstalker - now in its 12th year - was scheduled to take place in Innerleithen.

Image source, ANDY MCCANDLISH

However, organisers said their hopes of holding the event on a specially adapted route had been thwarted.

Police Scotland have urged people to only travel if necessary and consider using public transport once services start getting back up and running.

A yellow "be aware" warning remains in force across much of the country, mainly focused on eastern areas.

Supt Helen Harrison said: “The snow is not due to stop, and neither will we until we are confident that the risks associated with travelling in the poor conditions have reduced significantly.

“The snow has settled and is not expected to thaw, so extreme care will still need to be taken on the roads towards lunchtime and beyond, as public transport systems also start to operate again.

"You should still consider if your journey is necessary and think about using buses and trains when they are running or postponing your travel until weather has improved further."

Lothian Buses is to start operating a Sunday service.

Buses have started departing from its garages.

The full Sunday service should be operational by 12:00 "subject to individual route restrictions based on assessment of conditions".

A spokesman said: "Our operational and engineering teams are working incredibly hard across all garages to prepare buses for departure, so please bear with us while we endeavour to get services back up and running.

"Subject to weather conditions not worsening, we also plan to operate a Sunday service tomorrow, Saturday 3 March. There will be no night buses on service this weekend at all.

"A decision on Monday’s (5 March) service levels will be posted by 12:00 on Sunday on our website and social channels.

"Edinburgh Bus Tours will not operate today. East Coast Buses services are currently suspended and there will be a further update on these services later on Friday."

With the amber weather warning due to end at 10:00, the Scottish government has urged people to plan ahead, only travel if necessary and expect high levels of disruption.

The extreme cold weather is due to continue over the weekend and into next week.

A further meeting of the Scottish Government’s Resilience Room (SGoRR) will be held this morning to ensure preparations and appropriate measures are in place.

Deputy First Minister John Swinney said: “We would expect to see continued disruption to travel and difficult road conditions over the course of the day so I would encourage everyone to check in with travel operators ahead of any journey, and for parents to check school notices with their local authorities.

“Consider if you need to make your journey and if you do set out make sure you are properly prepared with a winter kit, warm clothing, food and drink.

“This has been a challenging few days for people across the country and I must thank our emergency services and those individuals who have gone above and beyond in difficult conditions."

Image source, Met Office

Angela Soave
BBC Scottish Borders

All Borders schools are off again today - Borders College is shut to pupils and staff too.

The council say they'll be doing their best to get schools open again for Monday - for senior pupils at least - if they can.

The advice remains: do not travel - unless it's absolutely necessary - if, for example you're an emergency worker.

We are still seeing some snow - but it's also drifting onto roads thanks to that stiff east wind - and it isn't going to just disappear any time soon. More is forecast.

There's a yellow warning for snow and ice, right up into the weekend.

A bus driver who swerved to avoid a car in the treacherous weather conditions in Edinburgh has said her training and "a lot of luck" helped avoid a crash.

The moment Charmaine Laurie steered the vehicle away from a Mini which slipped on ice has gone viral after being captured on a dashboard camera.

Speaking on ITV's Good Morning Britain programme, she revealed her husband had raved about seeing the footage when he picked her up from work, not realising she was the person behind the wheel.

"My husband picked me up and he said: 'Have you seen the footage of the bus driver that just missed the car?' she said.

"I said: 'Funnily enough something like that happened to me today.'

"He kind of dismissed what I was talking about and kept going on about the video.

"He went into the shop and I looked at the video on Facebook and when he came out, I was like: 'That was me, that was me!'"

Describing what happened, Ms Laurie said her training meant she was well prepared.

"I was just coming up over the hill and the visibility was quite poor. I saw the car do a U-turn and I really didn't have time to react to it," she said.

"My training just kicked in and there was a lot of luck, to be honest."

The footage was filmed on a dashcam by van driver Gareth Smith, who was in the Fairmilehead area of the city

Ms Laurie added: "I saw that guy's face and he looked pretty scared."

Steven McKenzie
BBC Scotland Highlands and Islands reporter

Drifting snow has badly affected roads in Easter Ross.

Simon Hart, who was trying to get to work in Nigg, was turned back home by police at Arabella level crossing near Tain.

Mr Hart told BBC Radio Scotland that there were drifts of snow of more than 4ft (1.2m) in the area.

He said there were four vehicles stuck in the drifts and also a train stuck on the line.

Police allowed him to cross at the level crossing so he could return home.

No surprise that snow is affecting Leadhills at hundreds of metres above sea level.

A webcam in the village has captured the scene and, also, a major icicle.

Image source, Lowther Hills Ski Club

Meanwhile, operations are continuing to clear the road to nearby Wanlockhead.

Image source, DGVost

Soldiers have been deployed to aid NHS staff in Edinburgh, to get them to work as the poor conditions continue.

They've been using 4X4 vehicles to ferry critical staff to key locations.

Image source, bbc

Image source, bbc

Edinburgh Airport has reopened but passengers have been urged only to travel to the airport if their airline confirms their flight is flying.

A spokesman said staffing remained an issue and 4x4s were being used to ensure vital staff could get to the airport.

He added: "We will be providing information on our website regarding confirmed cancellations as we go through the day."