Transport services across Scotland severely affected by extreme weather
Travel routes and transport services across Scotland have seen major disruptions after severe weather hit parts of the country.
Cancellations, road closures and stranded vehicles have been widespread throughout Wednesday due to heavy snow and ice.
Met Office forecasters have issued alerts across most of Scotland, with the highest level warning possible in place for central regions.
??UPDATE: Here's the latest service update and details of the last services running in the Met Office RED warning area. @transcotland@trafficscotland@policescotland@ReadyScotlandpic.twitter.com/MaWIcbYGWj
-- ScotRail (@ScotRail) February 28, 2018
Virgin Trains cancelled all services to and from Scotland for Wednesday and Thursday, while ScotRail halted all operations in affected red area from 6pm until late Thursday morning.
The A720 and M80 saw major incidents such as jack-knifed lorries and crashes causing delays, with Police Scotland urging people not to use the motorway and mountain rescue teams helping with road users in difficulty.
Massive #Multiagency effort underway in the Scottish Borders to keep everyone safe - Tweed Valley Mountain Rescue Team played our own small part. 3 vehicles and 6 people deployed today - 21 people on standby, a rota cover for the next 36hrs at least. #notjustmountainspic.twitter.com/6vSheK7xNl
-- Tweed Valley MRT (@TweedValleyMRT) February 28, 2018
Transport Minister Humza Yousaf hit out at motorists who were using commuter routes on Wednesday, despite advice not to.
Many road users had been left stranded in their vehicles due to the difficult conditions.
He tweeted: "Looking at live traffic cameras & still seeing far too much traffic on trunk road network.
"Can I reiterate, if you travel you're putting yourself at risk and possibly in danger. Don't take weather warnings lightly."
Looking at live traffic cameras & still seeing far too much traffic on trunk road network. Our advice for last 2days has been to avoid travel
Can I reiterate, if you travel you're putting yourself at risk & possibly in danger. Don't take weather warnings lightly @trafficscotland
-- Humza Yousaf (@HumzaYousaf) February 28, 2018
First Glasgow halted its services at 3pm due to the snow, while Stagecoach called off its operations in Fife for the remainder of Wednesday.
Glasgow Airport suspended all operations until later on Thursday, while British Airways and Flybe cancelled flights to and from Aberdeen.
British Red Cross emergency response volunteers in Glasgow were supplying bedding for up to 100 people in case they were stranded overnight.
Stuck at @GLA_Airport? ?
Red Cross volunteers have delivered camp beds and blankets for passengers in case they need to stay overnight due to flight cancellations caused by #UKSnow. ? #REDALERTpic.twitter.com/HiIom6TRUX
-- British Red Cross (@BritishRedCross) February 28, 2018
CalMac ferries were also disrupted, with the operator warning that many services face further cancellations due to the weather.
Extreme conditions are expected in the red alert areas between 3pm on Wednesday and 10am on Thursday.
The definition of the highest-level warning is "you should take action now to keep yourself and others safe from the impact of the weather" and it cautions that widespread damage, disruption and risk to life is likely.