Red warning until 10am

Overnight almost a foot of snow fell in the area and has made roads and pavements passable only with great care.

Also Cowdenbeath Job Centre, in Pit Road, was shut yesterday (Wednesday) and a decision whether it will open today will be taken later in the day.

The Met Office issued a red warning, which is the highest category of alert, covering Glasgow, Edinburgh, much of the Lothians, the northeast Borders, as well as Fife, Perth and Kinross, Forth Valley, North Lanarkshire, Renfrewshire and Dunbartonshire.

A further meeting of the Scottish Government’s Resilience Room (SGoRR) was held today, chaired by the Deputy First Minister and attended by Transport Minister Humza Yousaf, to ensure preparations are in place to deal with the forecast conditions.

The Scottish Government is in contact with local authorities to ensure they are fully informed to advise schools and services in their areas. People are also being urged to check with their transport providers for regular updates on journeys and potential cancellations.

The Met Office red warning states that the impacts could include long delays and cancellations on bus, rail and air travel.

Frequent and heavy snow showers are expected to continue in the Central Fife area today.

Transport Minister Humza Yousaf said: “This is the first red warning that has been issued for snow under the current system which means that conditions in affected areas will be extremely treacherous.

“I would urge people to follow police advice and avoid travel in those areas affected by the red and amber warnings. We recognise it will have an impact on people travelling to and from work so I would encourage employers to be as flexible as possible with their staff".

Fife Council's roads gritting teams have been working hard trying to keep main routes passable despite the heavy snowfall over the past 12 hours.