Scotland transport chiefs at Network Rail warn of ‘heavy snow’ on Highland railway lines out of Inverness tonight amid fresh Met Office yellow snow warnings for Caithness, Sutherland, Ross-shire, Inverness-shire, Moray, Badenoch & Strathspey, and Aberdeenshire
Up to 10cm of fresh snow could fall in Moray, the Highlands and Aberdeenshire, residents have been advised amid new weather warnings from the Met Office and travel bosses.
The UK forecaster has extended the duration of an existing warning for snow and ice in the area - stretching from the hills above Loch Ness in the west, through Badenoch & Strathspey, Moray and on to eastern Aberdeenshire - as well as increased the potential snow depths for inland locations in those parts. Up to 10cm is now expected to fall in communities and on roads above 200 metres high, with “a few centimetres” expected even to lower spots.
And it has also issued a brand new yellow warning for snow and ice for western and more northern parts of the region - with Caithness, Sutherland, Ross-shire, parts of Lochaber and many of the Hebrides all covered by it.
The existing yellow warning is already in place and will remain active until midday on Monday, while the new warning for western and far north spots will take effect at midday on Sunday and stay in force until 11am on Monday.
The fresh alerts come amid warnings of “heavy snow” from rail bosses to commuters in the north.
Network Rail Scotland said: “We’ll see heavy snow across the lines out of Inverness tonight [Sunday] and overnight. A normal service is operating today.
“Locomotives with ploughs are standing by at strategic locations, ready to clear tracks if it's needed. Snow showers remain likely across parts of the West Highland Line and lines out of Inverness for the first half of the week. Temps will struggle to get above freezing.”
🥶 Morning! We’re expecting snow move into central Scotland this morning, light initially, but getting heavier. It’ll continue into the evening.
— Network Rail Scotland (@NetworkRailSCOT) January 5, 2025
We’ll see heavy snow across the lines out of Inverness tonight and overnight. A normal service is operating today. /1 pic.twitter.com/k4RA2zKLK4
Describing the revised snow and ice warning across Loch Ness, Strathspey, Moray and Aberdeenshire, a Met Office spokesperson said: "Whilst precipitation amounts will vary, showers, falling as snow away from windward coasts, could bring a few cm of snow to lower elevations in parts of Aberdeenshire, Moray, north Angus, north Perthshire and Strathspey and Badenoch and perhaps more than 10 cm of above 200 metres in these areas."
Describing the new warning for snow in the west and far north, they added: "Across northern and north-western Scotland, further showers, falling as rain, sleet and soft hail near windward coasts and at lower elevations, but as snow over modest elevations, where a few places may see 1-4 cm accumulate.
"Across the wider region, icy stretches are likely to form and combining with lying snow in places, will make for some difficult driving conditions."
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