Snow, ice and heavy rain spark fresh Met Office weather warnings
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A yellow warning for ice was active across much of the Highlands on Boxing Day morning – and a further alert for snow and rain is set to come into force on Wednesday – after the Met Office issued two new warnings over Christmas.
Motorists and pedestrians were being warned to beware slippy conditions first thing on Boxing Day, after the Met Office issued a warning on Christmas Day evening that is expected to remain in force until around 10am on Tuesday.
The alert stretches across southern Sutherland, most of Ross-shire, the Black Isle, Inverness, Loch Ness and eastward through Nairnshire, Moray, the Cairngorms and Aberdeenshire.
A Met Office spokesperson said: "A mixture of rain, sleet and snow that developed during the afternoon of Christmas Day will clear eastward through the night. Skies will clear allowing ice to develop on untreated surfaces. There will also be some wintry showers developing later in the night which may also lead to some patchy ice developing."
The Boxing Day warning will be followed by a separate alert for rain and snow, which comes into force at 6am on December 27 and remain active for the remainder of that day.
The Met Office spokesperson continued: "A band of heavy rain and hill snow will move northeast across Scotland on Wednesday.
"At low elevations (roughly below 200 metres) this will fall as rain, with 20-30 mm developing quite widely across the warning area, with a risk of 50-70 mm in some locations.
"At higher elevations (roughly above 200 metres) snow is expected, with 10-15 cm likely to accumulate, particularly on southeast-facing hills and will affect some higher transport routes. Very strong southeasterly winds will accompany the rain and snow and exacerbate any impacts."
The snow and rain warning covers Caithness, eastern parts of Sutherland, and extends south through Ross-shire, Inverness and the Great Glen. It will also extend as far south as the Firth of Clyde and eastward into Aberdeenshire, Angus and Fife.
Moray, the Black Isle and much of Easter Ross fall just outside the alert area.
