Police Scotland is advising drivers that the Met Office has issued a Yellow Weather Warning for snow and ice covering a number of areas across Scotland on Thursday, 31 December and issued advice to drivers and passengers.
The local authority areas affected will include East Lothian, Edinburgh, Midlothian Council, Scottish Borders and West Lothian.
The Met Office warning lasts until 2pm on Thursday, 31 December. Conditions for travel may be hazardous and extra caution should be exercised.
What to expect: Snow and ice may bring some disruption late in to Thursday morning or early afternoon.
Northerly winds will bring showers of rain, sleet and snow across the north of Northern Ireland as well as northern, western and south of Scotland.
Snow accumulations will mostly be confined to ground above 100m away from coasts, but some temporary slushy deposits are possible to low levels at times. 1-3cm is likely to accumulate above 100m, and as much as 5-10cm above 250m, this mostly across high ground of Scotland. Some accumulations of 1-3 cm are likely, again mainly over higher ground, but 5 cm or more is possible over parts of southern Scotland.
Ice will form readily as temperatures quickly fall away rapidly through both Tuesday and Wednesday evenings.
What to do: If you are travelling you should ensure that you and your vehicle are adequately prepared for the conditions, making sure you have sufficient fuel and supplies, such as warm clothing, food & water in the event of being delayed for several hours.
Make sure that there is sufficient tread on the tyres fitted to your vehicle, ensure tyres are correctly inflated and that the screen wash is filled.
Charge your mobile phone and have the ability to charge it further if necessary.
Plan your route as well as alternatives to your planned route.
Drive to the conditions, leaving sufficient distance between you and the vehicle in front to allow you to use smooth braking, steering and acceleration to minimise skid risk.
Listen to media broadcasts especially local radio and Traffic Scotland Radio or visit www.trafficscotland.org.
For public transport information visit www.travelinescotland.
Follow @policescotland and @trafficscotland on Twitter for regular and up to date travel information.
John graduated from Telford College in 2010 with an HNC in Practical Journalism and since then he worked for the North Edinburgh News, The Southern Reporter, the Irish News Review and The Edinburgh Reporter. In addition he has been published in the Edinburgh Evening News and the Hibernian FC Programme.
