Snow warnings after coldest night of the year

More warnings for snow and ice are in place across Scotland after the Highlands again recorded the coldest night of the year.

Temperatures fell to -16C at Altnaharra after a similar freeze on Wednesday, making it the lowest UK March temperature since 2010.

One Met Office alert covers the central belt and south Scotland from 07:00 on Thursday to 14:00 on Friday.

Another warning covers northern parts of Scotland until 10:00 on Thursday.

It comes after an Arctic blast saw temperatures drop across the country with school closures in Shetland, Aberdeenshire and Highland.

A number of schools in Aberdeenshire remained closed on Thursday.

The warning covering central and southern areas also affects Northern Ireland and parts of England and Wales.

A level three cold alert has been issued by the UK Health Security Agency for the whole of England.

The Met Office warned further snow and ice could cause travel disruption across the country into Friday, warning rural communities could be cut off.

It said significant accumulations were possible over the hills of northern England and southern Scotland.

In those areas up to 15cm (6in) of snow is expected quite widely with a chance of more significant amounts.

However, the majority of areas covered by the warnings are not forecast to receive such levels.

Forecasters also said there is potential for strong winds, which may lead to blizzard conditions and drifting of lying snow.

Ice is likely to develop widely on Friday night, the Met Office said.

Police were sent to the junction 2 slip road on the M90 near Dunfermline following a minor crash at about 06:15 on Thursday.

The road was blocked and Traffic Scotland said the area was very icy, warning motorists to take care.

Parts of central and north east Scotland have been removed from a snow warning from Thursday into Friday.

It still covers most of the central belt and the south of the country.