HEAVY SNOW swept across parts of the north and north-east of Scotland yesterday, delaying motorists and stranding hundreds of air passengers.

Holidaymakers and business people were stuck as flights both in and out of Scottish airports were cancelled because of bad weather south of the border.

In Tayside and Fife, Perth itself seemed to catch the worst of the snowfall, with up to five inches in places, while outlying areas of Perthshire were relatively unscathed.

There was, however, an unexpected treat for pupils at one of Perthshire’s most remote schools—the adverse weather forcing the closure of Glen Lyon primary.

A police spokesman warned motorists to take extra care but confirmed there were no road closures. Nevertheless, some routes were only passable with care and drivers were advised to allow additional time for their journeys.

A total of 14 flights from Aberdeen were cancelled while 10 were grounded at Edinburgh and nine in Glasgow.

In the north-east, thousands of pupils had a day without classes when more than 50 schools were forced to close their doors and many drivers suffered tailbacks on icy roads.

At Aberdeen Airport, flights to Dublin, Birmingham, Manchester, the East Midlands and Orkney were cancelled with flights to Luton and Gatwick delayed.

People travelling by road faced lengthy delays as the dual carriageway on the A96 on the outskirts of Aberdeen was reduced to one lane until around 11.30am, causing huge tailbacks.

Sudden snow showers before 8am were compacted by the traffic into an ice-sheet, making it impossible for vehicles to climb the hill at Tyrebagger.

A gritting team was dispatched and had the road moving again.

Aberdeen City Council leader Kate Dean said, “Our people managed to deal with what could have been a serious problem in no time at all.

“Drivers should be thankful that these often unsung staff performed their duty so well.”

The B979 Westhill to Clinterty road in Aberdeenshire was extremely icy on the approach to the Clinterty roundabout near the A96 and the B974 Cairn o’ Mount road near Banchory.

It was described as “passable with extreme care” by Grampian Police.

Fifty-six schools in Aberdeenshire were affected by the weather yesterday, with 24 closed to staff and pupils, 17 partially closed, 11 closed to pupils using school transport and four closed for pupils only.

A spokesman for First Group, which runs many of the bus services in the north-east, said there were “general delays” because of the weather but no cancellations.

A ScotRail spokesman said they had no weather-related delays or cancellations yesterday.

Last night, Robin Steel of the Met Office, said snowy weather could continue until the start of next week, with a “raw” wind from the North Sea hitting the coast at the weekend.