Over 100 schools in Scotland are closed today as temperatures plummeted across the country overnight.
Councils in the north of Scotland, and in Shetland, confirmed the closures on Thursday morning as the country braces for potentially the coldest January day for more than a decade, with forecasters predicting lows of -20C.
Temperatures in some parts of the country dropped as low as -12.4C overnight, with a yellow weather warning remaining in place until midnight.
Highland Council confirmed 100 schools and 50 nurseries had closed, with a bus operator in the region not operating any services or school transport in the interest of passenger safety. Over 20 schools in Aberdeenshire and five in Shetland will also not be opening today.
The latest yellow weather warning, which came into force at noon on Wednesday and states that up to 15cm of snow could fall on high ground in the north and north east of Scotland.
A Met Office statement read: “Sleet and snow showers will continue for the rest of Thursday, before dying out by the end of Thursday evening. North-west Scotland and the Northern and Western Isles will see the most frequent showers on Wednesday, before extending to the north east on Thursday. Further accumulations of 3-7cm are expected to low levels, with 10-15cm possible above 150 metres.”
Snow fields could see temperatures between -16C and -20C. A temperature of -16C would be the lowest in January for 15 years, since -22.3C was recorded in Altnaharra in the Highlands on 8 January 2010, according to Met Office data.
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Network Rail reported teams are working to keep lines open by taking measures such as using de-icing fluid on junctions used for trains changing tracks.
On X, formerly known as Twitter, a spokesperson said: “It’s been a challenging week, particularly for teams in the north who’ve kept services moving in some awful conditions. They’re well prepared for this extreme cold snap – the temperatures forecast may cause disruption, but we’ll do all we can to prevent it.”
ScotRail also warned of potential disruption to services, advising passengers to check their journey before travelling, and take extra care getting on and off trains due to icy conditions.
The lowest temperature this year came over the past weekend, with a low of -13.3C logged at Loch Glascarnoch in the Highlands. Last winter’s coldest temperature of -14C was recorded in Dalwhinnie, also in the Highlands.
However, the last time the mercury dipped below -20 in any part of the UK was in February 2021 when Braemar in Aberdeenshire plunged to -23C.
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