Winter weather's grip in north east into 13th day

North east schools have been disrupted by the weather

Roads and some schools in the north east of Scotland have again been affected as winter weather extended its grip into a 13th day.

Grampian Police said drifting snow and black ice were causing problems on some routes.

And the Met Office issued a warning of heavy snow for Aberdeenshire, Orkney and Shetland, with the public advised to take extra care.

Most schools in Aberdeen and Aberdeenshire were able to open.

Grampian Police said drifting snow was affecting roads between Fochabers and Elgin, Inverurie and Huntly, Huntly and Banff, and MacDuff to New Pitsligo.

Some higher routes were closed.

Aberdeen and Aberdeenshire councils said school transport would been affected, with some routes cancelled and others changed.

Castle cancellation

Kirkwall Airport was affected, and ScotRail was able to run trains between Aberdeen and Inverness, and from Glasgow and Edinburgh to Aberdeen.

It has also been announced that a major Enchanted Castle event at Crathes in Aberdeenshire this weekend has had to be cancelled on health and safety grounds.

A spokesman for event organisers GM Events said: "It is upsetting for the organisers and the local community as more than seven months of planning had gone into putting the event together and with more than 6,500 tickets sold for the three days."

Ticketholders can either use them next year, or seek a refund.

The snow arrived in the north east of Scotland on 22 November.