Met Office issues new yellow warning for snow for parts of Ross-shire, Caithness and Sutherland

ROSS-SHIRE residents are bracing themselves for further snow showers after the Met Office issued another yellow warning on Tuesday morning.

Forecasters have issued a yellow alert for snow and ice covering Wester Ross, Caithness, north, west and central Sutherland, the Hebrides and Orkney. The alert comes into force at 5pm on Tuesday and will remain in place until 10am on Wednesday.

A few centimetres of fresh snow is possible.

The latest alert comes after schools across swathes of the Highlands were forced to close by the weather on Tuesday.

Read more: Ross-shire schools among 30 forced to close across the Highlands due to wintry weather

Nearly 40 primary and secondary schools were forced to close after the wintry blast brought fresh snowfalls overnight. The closures, which primarily affected Sutherland, Skye and Lochaber schools but also hit some schools elsewhere, affected more than 2600 pupils.

Warning of further possible disruption tonight, a Met Office spokesman said: "Sleet and snow showers will continue to affect parts of the Hebrides, the north of mainland Scotland and, more especially, Orkney overnight, which may lead to some icy patches and perhaps a few centimetres of fresh snow.

"Conditions will also turn very windy for a time across Orkney this evening when showers will be accompanied by gales."

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