A THIRD day of severe disruption caused by the weather saw schools, rail lines and many roads closed across Scotland.
Hundreds of schools remained closed for a second or third day and councils said some schools will still be closed on Monday.
GALLERY: Beast from the East pictures from readers and photographers
And late last night police said the body of a woman was found during the search for a missing hillwalker. Police and mountain rescuers had been searching the Ochil Hills for Alison Fox after the 51-year-old from Alloa, Clackmannanshire, became lost in the hills near Menstrie on Thursday.
The body was recovered near Dunyat Farm at around 2.15pm, police in Forth Valley confirmed. No formal identification had taken place by the time we went to print, however Alison’s family had been informed.
The severe weather has already claimed the life of 42-year-old Elaine McNeill, a mother of two who was found dead in the snow in the Milton area of Glasgow. Inquiries into her death are continuing.
Though conditions eased slightly yesterday, a yellow weather alert remains in many parts of Scotland, with significant accumulations of snow expected – the “be aware” warning is in place until Monday night.
According to the Scottish Government, Transport Scotland is working to fully restore national travel networks, but delays and disruption can still be expected this weekend. Glasgow and Edinburgh airports re-opened yesterday and Prestwick Airport has seen more than 3000 extra passengers due to flights being diverted from other airports. Operations director Jules Matteoni said: “Our location means that we have an excellent weather record and we play an important role whenever other airports are closed.”
ScotRail Alliance managing director Alex Hynes said yesterday that their task is to re-open Scotland’s railway network.
He said: “We’re working night and day now, line by line, to inspect each line of route to make sure it’s safe to run. We’re introducing a limited service on many lines.
“We’re expanding the hours of operation and over the course of the coming hours and days we’ll be opening more and more of Scotland’s railway network.”
Conditions worsened significantly in England and Wales yesterday when Storm Emma swept in from the South and collided with the Beast from the East cold snap from Siberia.
The Met Office said the UK has officially broken its record for the lowest temperatures for March in a 24-hour period. Temperatures in the town of Tredegar in south Wales did not get above -5.2C
Passengers who boarded a South Western Railway train to Weymouth at 5pm on Thursday were trapped in their carriages for up to 15 hours without heating and had to be rescued by another train which brought them aboard by gangplank.
Dairy and livestock farmers across Scotland have been struggling. NFU Scotland President Andrew McCornick said: “Many dairy farmers are not getting their milk collected and are being forced to dispose of it in their slurry after a day’s milking. We are hopeful that collections for these farms will return to normal at the weekend but with the weather being so unpredictable it is hard to say.”
Police Scotland have asked skiers to “think carefully” about travelling to ski resorts. Superintendent Helen Harrison said: “We understand that people want to make the most of the snow but conditions on the roads, especially on the routes at higher levels remain hazardous and the yellow weather warning does not mean that roads are now clear.
“I would urge people to think carefully before travelling and to consider going to the slopes at places like Glenshee and Glencoe another weekend.”
There was some good news amidst all the chaos – in a Fife village cut off by snow a baby boy was safely delivered after local farmers and off-duty midwives intervened. Ashleigh Lisa was trapped in her house at Balgedie near Kinross when she went into labour during the night. Farmers took several off-duty midwives to the house by tractor just in time to attend the birth.
Lothian Buses heroine Charmaine Laurie was revealed as the driver whose swerve around a car went viral on the internet. The mother-of-two said she had forgotten about the incident until she met her husband who asked if she had seen the video.
“My husband was watching it,” she said, “and I told him it was me and he couldn’t believe it – he said well done.”
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