COMMUTERS battled to work today with snow causing tricky rush hour driving conditions as winter storms continued to batter the city.

Glasgow and much of the west of Scotland woke up to a blanket of snow, with The Met Office warning that severe winter storms will continue to cause problems.

Snow which began to fall overnight continued into the morning, bringing blizzard conditions.

A yellow "be aware" alert for high winds in Strathclyde was in place until 9am and has since been extended.

And an amber "be prepared" warning for snow was also extended beyond 9am.

A Met Office forecaster said: "We've got a band of sleet and snow pushing through Glasgow this morning.

"That turns mainly to sleet the further west we go but there is expected to be a further 2-5cm of snow falling later in higher areas.

"The snow should turn to rain by mid afternoon so there shouldn't be too many more problems during the evening rush hour.

"A second band of rain, sleet and snow is heading south tonight and will pass through Glasgow in the late evening, but it will mainly affect high ground."

The west was hit by gusts of up to 70mph and many ferry services were disrupted, with cancellations in the Western Isles, including the Oban- Lochboisdale sailing.

The strong winds forced the closure of the Erskine Bridge, Clackmannanshire Bridge, Skye Bridge and Forth Road Bridge to high vehicles.

Traffic on the M8 was slow moving into the city, with very slow and heavier than usual traffic reported eastbound between Airdrie and Bathgate.

And between Townhead and the Fruitmarket, the M8 was down to one lane for a spell during rush hour because of an accident.

North Lanarkshire was also affected this morning as traffic on the M73 near Cumbernauld was very slow after an accident.

Transport Minister Keith Brown said: "We would expect to see difficult conditions emerging on our roads, as well as the potential for disruption to all modes of transport.

"As always we are playing our part by delivering winter service treatments to our roads, but sudden weather changes can occur, and the impact the weather can have from one location to the next can be very varied.

"Stopping distances increase tenfold when driving in snow and ice, so it is absolutely vital for the public to take on board police advice about driving to the conditions.

"I would again ask the public to stay up to date with live travel information and local radio reports."

stef.lach@ heraldandtimes.co.uk