Scotland Weather: New amber warning for 'heavy snow' and 'blizzard conditions' issued by Met Office

The Met Office has issued a new amber warning for parts of Scotland as communities brace for heavy snowfall.

The new alert covers Grampian, where a band of snow will move across the area during Sunday morning and early afternoon.

More heavy snow is expected to fall in Scotland. | Getty Images

Snow is expected to fall to low levels across the area during the morning, before becoming increasingly confined to higher ground in the afternoon.

In an online forecast, the Met Office says 2 to 5 cm is likely to low levels, with  0-15 cm above 150 metres elevation and locally 20-30 cm above 300 metres elevation.

The report states: “Strong winds will lead to some drifting of the snow and blizzard conditions, with deep drifts possible.

“During the afternoon, snow is likely to turn to sleet and then rain before it clears which will help to melt some of the snow at lower elevations, increasing the risk of flooding.”

Meanwhile, a yellow warning of rain affecting Dumfries, Galloway and Lothian & Borders has been issued.

The Met Office says: “Bands of heavy rain will affect southwest Scotland during Sunday. Some of this will fall as snow initially over higher ground before turning back to rain at all altitudes as milder air works in through the day.

“30-50 mm of rain could fall quite widely across the warning area, but there is potential for 70-90 mm to build up over the higher ground of Dumfries and Galloway. Melting of lying snow may contribute to flooding in some places too.”

A yellow warning for snow and ice is in place until 3pm on Saturday, with further snowfall possible across parts of northern England and much of Scotland, while a widespread risk of ice is expected to cause disruption.

Within the alert area, between 2-5cm of snow is likely to accumulate on hills above 100m with up to 15cm possible in areas above 300m in parts of central and eastern Scotland, according to the Met Office.

Intense conditions

The north and north east of Scotland have seen several days of “intense” snowfall, ice and sub-zero temperatures which have led to school closures and travel disruption.

John Swinney travelled to Aberdeen on Friday to thank gritter operators, transport depot staff, police and other workers helping keep the main road network open and safe.

The First Minister said he wanted to “come to see first-hand the impacts of the winter weather, and to express my thanks to those who’ve worked so hard to keep the transport networks operating and to make sure that support for individuals is available within the community”.

He continued: “It has been a really challenging period for everybody and I thank members of the public for their patience and support.”

More than 250 schools remained closed on Friday, including more than 150 in Aberdeenshire, dozens in the Highlands and Aberdeen, and a number in Moray.

Many pupils will have had a whole week off school at the start of the new term, though remote learning has been provided in many cases.

Aberdeenshire Council declared a major incident on Tuesday, warning of a “good chance” some rural communities would be cut off, as well as the possibility of power cuts.

Assistant Chief Constable Alan Waddell, of Police Scotland, said: “We have been working closely with resilience partners across local authorities, other emergency service partners, transport partners, NHS and health and social care partnerships and other local organisations to support communities affected by adverse weather and keep public services open where possible.

“Some services may be impacted by adverse weather and I would encourage the public to check on neighbours or relatives, if they are able to do so safely.”