Wintry weather disrupts travel with warnings of more snow and ice to come

Wintry conditions have caused disruption to road and rail travel in many parts of Scotland, with warnings of further inclement weather to come.

There are currently no services on two railway lines in the Highlands after heavy rain caused landslips and flooding.

The Far North Line between Inverness and Wick is closed due to landslips at three sections of the route and flooding at Beauly.

Rail operator ScotRail said the line will be closed between Inverness and Dingwall until Saturday.

In a statement, ScotRail said: “We’re dealing with three landslips, between Lairg-Rogart, at Bunchrew near Inverness, and at Beauly. Flooding at Beauly has also closed the line.

“We’ll share more information on the progress of repairs later.”

Rail replacement buses have been laid on, with ScotRail saying buses were due to depart Wick at 12.34pm and Inverness at 6.31pm.

But services are set to resume on the Highland Main Line after it was closed due to flooding caused by heavy rain in the Kingussie area.

The reopening of the line had been delayed while engineers waited for water levels in the Balavil Burn to fall to allow them to inspect a bridge, but Network Rail Scotland said this inspection had now been completed.

There are also warnings of difficult driving conditions throughout the country as a result of snow and ice, and the A939 between Cockbridge and Tomintoul in Aberdeenshire is closed due to snow.

With temperatures set to fall, the Met Office has issued further warnings of snow and ice for Scotland that run until midday on Monday January 6.

On Thursday and Friday, ice is expected to create difficult travel conditions in the west of the country.

There are also warnings of ice and snow in the far north, Orkney and Shetland on Thursday and Friday, with the Met Office saying 3-7cm of snow is likely in places, while up to 10cm could fall on higher ground.

Further wintry weather is then expected over the weekend, with a Met Office yellow weather warning for snow covering most of the country from midnight on Sunday January 5 to midday on Monday.