Trapped drivers rescued amid heavy snowfalls

Thirty-two people have been rescued after vehicles became trapped overnight in snow on the A835 in the Highlands.

Highland Council and mountain rescuers assisted emergency services reaching the 22 vehicles at the scene at Loch Droma.

Police described it as a "major incident", which came during heavy snowfalls across parts of Scotland.

Snow drifts of 2-3m (6-9ft) blocked the A835 between Ullapool and Garve.

Welfare centres were set up in Ullapool and Aultguish for those caught in the bad weather.

The road at the scene was reopened just after 14:00, but Traffic Scotland warned driving conditions were "tricky" due to the weather.

The problems started when a lorry jack-knifed on Thursday night and traffic queued either side of the truck. Snow carried by high winds built up around the vehicles and filled the road.

Roads company Bear NW Trunk Roads said there were drifts of snow 2m (6ft) deep on the A835.

Roads crews, emergency services and Dundonnell Mountain Rescue Team assisted in the rescue effort.

The road was cleared enough to allow the vehicles to be moved on Friday morning. No-one was injured.

A driver and five passengers on a coach were among those caught up in the incident.

Coach passenger Andy Pyott, who was trying to return home from work, said it became clear by about 22:00 that the bus would not be able to make it through the snow to Inverness.

He said: "The snow building up around the bus was quite remarkable. There must have been about three feet of snow in front of the bus.

"All praise to the driver. He really kept everyone's spirits up."

Jordan Clark, from Renfrew, who was in the Highlands working, was in another vehicle trapped in snow for 14 hours.

Mountain rescuers, assisted by excavators, dug Mr Clark's vehicle free and he was able to get to Ullapool.

He said: "The wind was blowing 55mph and I've never seen snow so thick."

Mr Clark praised welfare centre volunteers for the help they had given him and others.

The Met Office has an amber warning for snow in place until Saturday morning. It also has yellow "be aware" warnings for snow and ice for the weekend and Monday.

There were concerns earlier this week about the impact of the poor weather on Covid-19 vaccinations.

On Friday, Deputy First Minister John Swinney said roads around vaccination centres would be treated as a priority. He said he did not anticipate the weather would have a serious effect on the vaccination programme.

Police said "multi-agency efforts" ensured people in communities affected by the A835 closure were able to attend vaccination appointments.

A number of homes have been left without power due supply faults in parts of Skye, Lewis, north west and central Sutherland, and near Inverness.

SSEN said the problems affected about 100 properties and engineers were working to restore supplies.

Network Rail Scotland said drifting snow had caused disruption to services on the Highland Mainline on Friday morning despite snow ploughs operating overnight.

The Met Office said the deepest accumulations of snow would be over high ground, with as much as 50cm (19in) of new snow in some places.

The Scottish Avalanche Information Service has rated the potential avalanche hazard in the Northern and Southern Cairngorms as "high".

The avalanche hazard in four other areas - Lochaber, Torridon, Creag Meagaidh and Glen Coe - has been rated "considerable".