Three rescued on mountains as snow warnings continue

Temperatures plummeted to -6C in Scotland overnight with a yellow weather warning for icy conditions across the country.

Three hillwalkers were rescued overnight in the Cairngorms after they got into difficulty in the wind and snow.

Homes were evacuated in the village of Toward at 05:30 after a lorry hit a gas main near Dunoon in Argyll.

Wintry conditions are forecast to continue into next week, with widespread snow expected to hit large parts of the country on Sunday.

Eskdalemuir in Dumfries and Galloway felt the coldest temperatures, dropping to -6.4C at 23:00 on Thursday.

Snow also fell again overnight across the Highlands and Aberdeenshire.

More than 25 people from Braemar and Aberdeen Mountain Rescue teams, as well as a Coastguard helicopter, were involved in a nine hour rescue operation in the Cairngorms.

A group of walkers made a call for help at about 21:45 near Lairig Ghru. All of the walkers are reported to be safe and well.

Police Scotland closed the A815 near Dunoon after the HGV crash into a gas main.

The force said a number of properties were evacuated as a precaution, but there were no reported injuries.

A spokesperson for SGN said around 40 properties were without gas following the incident and urgent repairs were being carried out.

In Orkney a bus left the road in near the Brig O’ Waithe, with all bus services cancelled for the rest of the day.

The Far North railway line remains closed between Inverness and the Kyle of Lochalsh due to floods and landslips earlier this week.

ScotRail said some early morning replacement buses were cancelled due to icy conditions.

Fresh weather warnings have been issued by the Met Office for further snow across Scotland on Sunday and Monday.

Weather presenter Kirsty McCabe, editor of MetMatters at the Royal Meteorological Society, said there could be up to 20cm of snowfall in places.

She told BBC Radio’s Good Morning Scotland programme: “There’s potentially a lot of snow to come, but as well as the snow there always the risk of freezing rain.

“You can get black ice, really hazardous conditions on the roads.

“It’s not especially unusual, its not record-breakingly cold, but it’s not great as Monday for many is going to be the first day back at school or back at work.

“There will be this legacy of wintry weather and nasty conditions.”

The yellow weather warning for snow is in place from the early hours of Sunday until midday on Monday.

The Met Office said the greatest risk was in southern and eastern Scotland, where up to 5cm could accumulate, with 10 to 20cm over high ground.

Rain or sleet is more likely near some northern and eastern coasts.