Freezing temperatures nudging –10C (14F) have led to a spate of accidents on the roads and icicles forming on railway power lines.
Police Scotland appealed for drivers to slow down on icy carriageways after receiving reports that 25 vehicles had crashed in just one hour.
The force statement on Twitter said: “Road traffic collision reports are coming in thick and fast this morning….25 in the last hour alone.
“These sometimes cannot be avoided but please remember that stopping distances can be up to 10 times longer in icy conditions.”
Traffic on the M8 in Glasgow city centre was re-routed in the afternoon to allow the removal of icicles which had formed on the roof of an underpass at Charing Cross.
Strathallan airfield in Perthshire recorded the lowest temperature in the country on Sunday night into yesterday with – 9.8C. As the Mercury plunged in the west of the country –6.4C was recorded at Bishopton in Renfrewshire – icicles formed on the electricity power lines over railway tracks.
ScotRail said this affected Bellgrove Station in Glasgow and prevented trains from stopping at Johnstone before staff managed to remove the icicles.
A signalling fault at Dalmuir caused further disruption.
Frozen points at Perth affected trains running from Edinburgh to Inverness and from Glasgow to Aberdeen.
A ScotRail Alliance spokesman said: “Today’s cold snap has been challenging for the railway – ice can damage trains, and can prevent the supporting infrastructure from working correctly.
“Our staff have been working flat out, night and day, to get customers where they need to be. Ensuring that the safety of our customers and staff remains our number one priority.
“We apologise to our customers who’ve been delayed today. Customers can keep up-to-date with the latest travel information on the ScotRail app, our website, and our Twitter feed.”
CalMac said a number of west coast sailings will be disrupted today due to a forecast of high winds.
At least eight schools were shut across the country.
Today should bring some respite from the very low temperatures, though it could still fall to –3C tonight.
A Met Office spokesman said: “It won’t feel balmy but cloud cover should give Scotland some insulation from the recent very low temperatures across the country.”
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