White-out conditions have hit Perthshire following heavy snowfall overnight.
A spate of crashes have taken place across the area, with the A9 road from Stirling to Perth and up to the Highlands hit by a series of incidents.
Traffic Scotland issued numerous warnings of lane closures, accidents and breakdowns affecting the route form early on Thursday morning.
The road has been blocked for periods at Aberuthven, Gleneagles, Perth and Greenloaning throughout the day.
At one point on Thursday morning, passersby were photographed helping a NHS worker stuck in the snow at the A9’s junction with the Findo Gask road.
Major snow also hit the A82 between Tyndrum and Bridge of Orchy, on the western fringes of Perthshire, with Traffic Scotland warning of “difficult driving conditions” in the area. A crash was reported on the route on Thursday morning.
The M90 Perth to Edinburgh road was also hit with a five-hour closure just south of Friarton Bridge following a collision involving three lorries at about 1.15am.
Nobody was injured in the crash, which led to traffic being re-routed off the crossing and through Perth.
A police spokesman said: “Police were called around 1.15am on Thursday, 14 January, 2021 following the report of a three-vehicle road crash involving three lorries at the Friarton Bridge, Perth.
“There were no injuries and the road was closed for around five hours.”
The conditions are so bad in some areas that police told people not to travel at all unless absolutely essential.
Snowfall has forced the closure of the A93 Perth to Braemar road around the Spittal of Glenshee.
A number of schools which had remained open for the children of key workers and vulnerable people were also forced to close.
A Met Office amber weather warning was in place until 10am this morning. It had warned of up to 8in of snow in parts of Tayside overnight.
Another yellow warning for snow and ice will remain in place across Tayside and Fife until 9pm.
Frozen January
It is the latest spell of freezing conditions after sub-zero temperatures brought sheet ice to roads and pavements across Tayside and Fife last week.
It was so chilly that ice hockey fan Ben Stark, 9, managed to practise his skating outside his home in Inchture – while in Dundee local figure-skaters took to a frozen stretch of water in Caird Park.
However milder temperatures moved in across the weekend, melting away the snow and ice across most of Tayside and Fife.
A sudden stratospheric warming event, which is what was behind the Beast from the East in 2018, has taken place; however forecasters are still unsure if it will lead to a similar, enduring cold spell.
Last week Met Office spokesman Oli Claydon said: “That has happened but what that means is uncertain. In 2019 we had a sudden stratospheric warming event and saw record mild temperatures.”
However he added there was an “increasing likelihood of cold conditions”.
