Heavy snowstorms brought chaos to the roads of Tayside and Fife at rush-hour on Tuesday.
Angus, Fife, Perth and Kinross and Dundee were all hit by the wintry weather on Monday night and throughout much of the day.
The Met Office, which issued an amber “be prepared” weather warning for Tayside, Central and Fife, is predicting whiteout conditions will ease before returning with a vengeance on Thursday night.
Gritters and ploughs were out in force to try to keep main roads clear but the heavy snows still caused difficulties for commuters with dozens of crashes reported across Tayside and Fife during the morning rush-hour.
Five cars crashed in the same spot in North-East Fife within minutes of each other and in Angus a series of jack-knifed lorries caused lengthy tailbacks on the A90.
Fortunately, there were no serious injuries reported in any of the incidents.
Although most main routes were passable with care, a series of slips, bumps and crashes brought traffic to a standstill in several areas.
As well as the treacherous winter conditions, motorists in Perthshire also had to contend with an oil spill.
The spill, from an articulated lorry, ran from the A9 at roadworks at Cairnie Braes, through Windyedge, Broxden, Craigend and on to the A90 across to the Kinfauns side of Friarton Bridge.
Two non-injury traffic incidents resulted from the spillage. The vehicle was identified and BEAR Scotland attended to deal with the spillage and warning signs were put in place.
It was the wintry weather, however, that was responsible for most chaos on the roads.
A broken-down lorry at the Lochlands Caravan Site outside Forfar forced traffic to queue back on to the northbound outside lane of the A90 at the Dundee Road junction at around 8am.
The vehicle was eventually removed by a tractor after officers from Tayside Police arrived on the scene.
Further delays were reported following a jack-knifed lorry at the Lochlands Junction around 9am, which caused tailbacks on to the busy dual carriageway.
Similar disruption was caused on the A92 Arbroath Road following a jack-knifed lorry at Claypotts.
Falling snow contributed to drifts to create white-out conditions and caused several minor incidents elsewhere and the A92 Glamis to Petterden road at Lumley Den was closed because of heavy snow.
The A93 was closed at the snow gates at the Spittal of Glenshee and remained closed overnight.
The situation was little better in Fife. Five cars crashed in separate incidents on the same stretch of road in North-East Fife at around 8.30am.
Police said two cars were involved in a head-on crash on the A916 near Craigrothie, and three vehicles skidded into a ditch at the same spot a short time later.
No one was injured in any of the accidents, which were thought to have been caused by a patch of ice on the road. The road remained open throughout.
Firefighters in Dundee even had to rescue an alsatian after it fell through abroken manhole that had been covered by the snow.
The dog, called Brook, was unhurt after her ordeal in the city’s Jack Martin Way. The weather also forced a dozen primary schools across Courier Country to close.
In Angus, Birkhill pre-school had to close as did Airlie, Carmyllie, Cortachy, Isla, Lethnot, Northmuir, Southmuir and Tarfside primary schools.
Cleish and Portmoak Primary schools in Kinross-shire also had to close, as did Gateside Primary in Fife. It is expected to be open as normal on Wednesday.
Scottish Transport Minister Keith Brown urged motorists to take care on the country’s roads and to pay attention to updates on conditions over the coming days.
He said: “We are already doing all we can to ensure Scotland is prepared for disruption. Drivers can play their part by planning journeys in advance and using other forms of transport where available.”The weather outlookEasterly winds will continue to batter Scotland and forecasters have warned of plunging temperatures.
The next few days will remain unsettled with snow, sleet and biting winds sweeping across eastern Scotland.
Although the snow is expected to ease today, Thursday will see high winds make the already low temperatures feel even colder.
Sean Penston, a forecaster at Meteogroup, said easterly winds are bringing in the cold air and snow which has fallen across much of the east of Scotland.
The outlook is unsettled and cold, Mr Penston added.“The easterly winds will continue.It’s going to be quite cold and blustery, particularly in the east.
“The snow is going to continue into Wednesday, probably turning more showery and a bit more intermittent. It will remain cold through much of Wednesday with snow showers most frequent along coasts,” he went on.
“Into Wednesday night and Thursday, it’s looking like it’s going to remain cold with probably a more blustery wind.It’s going to be bitterly cold on Thursday.”