Heavy snowfall causes transport woes
- Published
Heavy snowfall across parts of Scotland on Friday evening has caused travel disruption on many routes.
Central and south western areas were badly affected with numerous breakdowns leading to long queues.
Glasgow Airport warned of delays and the Rangers v Hearts match at Ibrox was abandoned..
Transerv Scotland, which deals with highways in south west Scotland, said it had 26 gritters working around the clock to keep 22 major routes open.
The A76 near Cumnock and New Cumnock was closed for a time because of snowy conditions as was the A751 at Stranraer.
Long queues developed on the M80 after three buses became stuck on the A806 towards Kirkintilloch.
The Erskine Bridge was closed southbound because of the conditions but traffic was later allowed to cross.
Police Scotland warned motorists they faced a high risk of disruption if attempting to travel in the Strathclyde or Dumfries and Galloway areas.
A police statement said: "If you do travel, you are likely to experience significant delays.
"Congestion caused by vehicles may restrict emergency, recovery or winter maintenance vehicles from providing essential assistance or from clearing roads."
Numerous minor accidents led to big delays on some of the main routes
Those who were not forced to travel made good use of the snow
Lucy Mathieson sent us this picture of the old police box in the snow in Glasgow's Buchanan Street
Difficult conditions brought out the team spirit in Glasgow
A travel bulletin issued by Glasgow City Council said: "Roads users should be aware that heavy snow is affecting most routes throughout Glasgow City. Breakdowns and stranded vehicles are blocking numerous routes. Only travel if necessary."
Bear Scotland, which deals with routes in the north of the country, said the north east was largely unaffected.
The north west was facing sporadic snow showers, especially around Glencoe, but there were no significant issues with the main trunk routes.
Winter patrols were out monitoring the situation, a spokeswoman said.
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In times of severe disruption you can also follow the BBC Scotland severe weather Twitter list, external of key sources.
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- Published13 January 2015
