Several crashes reported amid wintry driving conditions

Motorists are being urged to drive with care as snow and strong winds bring difficult conditions on the roads.

Police said several weather-related collisions were reported on Thursday morning on the M8, M9 and M90.

The Met Office has issued a yellow weather warning for snow which is in place until 11am on Thursday, with forecasters warning of potential disruption to travel.

The main areas affected include Central, Tayside and Fife, south west Scotland, Lothian and Borders, Strathclyde, Highlands and Grampian.

A separate yellow weather alert for strong gale-force winds, warning of gusts of up to 75mph, is in place for the same areas and also the Western Isles until midday.

Road Policing Scotland tweeted: “Lots of weather-related collisions already being reported this morning on the M8, M9 and M90 just to name a few.

“Please drive to the prevailing road and weather conditions.

“Look well ahead and increase your following distance to account for any increased stopping distance.”

Caledonian MacBrayne said some ferry services are liable to disruption or cancellation at short notice due to adverse weather.

Forecasters warned that a brief period of severe gale-force westerly winds will develop across the Western Isles during the early hours of Thursday morning, bringing gusts up to 70-75mph, with the Uists most likely to see the strongest winds.

The windy conditions are then expected to shift eastwards across the rest of the warning area throughout Thursday morning, with gusts typically around 50mph, but perhaps approaching 60mph in a few locations.

Accumulations of 2cm (0.8in) to 5cm (2in) of snow are possible in areas above 200 metres (655ft), with possibly about 10cm (4in) on some of the higher routes above 400 metres (1,310ft).

Forecasters said that at lower levels there is a risk of icy and slushy surfaces which could cause dangerous travel conditions.