Heavy snowfalls caused travel chaos across west Scotland as the region’s roads and rail services ground to a halt.
Glasgow shivered again today after temperatures plummeted to -10°C (14F).
Forecasters said it would be even colder tonight, raising the prospect of the treacherous travelling conditions lasting right up until Christmas.
Hundreds of rail passengers were left stranded when Central Station closed the doors of its concourse yesterday following serious disruption to some of its busiest routes.
Thousands of other people had to struggle for hours through Arctic weather conditions to complete relatively short journeys home.
Drivers on the M74 faced delays up until midnight after snow coated the motorway and traffic could not move around Happendon services and junction 16.
Many roads in Ayrshire, Lanarkshire and Renfrewshire were also badly hit.
All roads out of Stewarton, Ayrshire, were closed for a time last night and they remained treacherous early today after four hours of heavy snow.
The chaos began yesterday around 3pm.
After more than two hours of continuous snowfall, many city centre shoppers and workers arrived at Glasgow Central shortly after 4.30pm to find themselves stranded as services on the Paisley, East Kilbride and Newton lines were suspended.
Network Rail, which operates the station, said the decision to close the entrances to Glasgow Central was taken in the interest of public safety.
Craig Bowman, from Network Rail, said: “We had disruption over the peak period until about 7.30pm. We were anxious to prevent overcrowding on the concourse so we had to close the station doors.”
He said Network Rail had been unable to provide passengers with alternative transport due to congestion on the roads.
Routes to and from East Kilbride were cancelled for almost two hours due to a points failure at Busby, while services to and from Newton were diverted via Queen’s Park and Maxwell Park because of signalling problems at the Cathcart Junction.
Services to and from Paisley Gilmour Street were disrupted by a broken down train on the line at Bridge Street. Journeys were delayed for up to 60 minutes on other routes due to the severe weather.
Train services remained disrupted today as early morning workers struggled to work.
There was a reduction in services to Ayrshire while a fault on one of the trains to East Kilbride led to trains terminating at Busby.
Glasgow Airport was hit this morning by four flight cancellations. They were EasyJet’s 8.50am arrival from Gatwick and the 9.20am departure, plus BA’s Heathrow flight due to arrive at 9.50am and leave again at 10.35am.
A spokeswoman for
airport operator BAA said: “Glasgow Airport is open and operating as normal, but heavy snow and icy conditions across the
UK mean flights to and from our airport may
be subject to delays and cancellations.
“We are advising
passengers to check with their airline before travelling.”
Prestwick Airport, meanwhile, handled two diverted Easyjet flights from Spain and Portugal, which were due to land at Glasgow Airport.
The temperature at Glasgow Airport today at 2am was -10°C, making it one of the coldest nights of the year, although in some parts of Scotland it was even lower at -16˚C.
Today, the mercury in the city was expected to be -4°C.
Forecasters said the weather picture in the city was expected to improve and only “a few flurries of snow” were expected to come in from the east, which would most likely affect parts of Lanarkshire.
A spokesman for the Meteo Group: “You will get snow in Lanarkshire, where it will be more
persistent but there will probably be only a few flurries in Glasgow.”
The freezing conditions is also causing concern for a 38-year-old man who was been missing since Monday.
David Cassidy, 38, of Glenburn Crescent, Paisley, was last seen leaving his work in Lochlibo Road, Barrhead, around 3.15pm.
His family and police are becoming increasingly concerned for his well-being because he has never been missing before.
Mr Cassidy is 5ft 4ins, stocky, with short, dark hair, which is receding at the front.
When last seen he was wearing a navy waterproof jacket with an RFC logo on the left side, grey trousers, a pale blue short sleeve shirt, navy jumper, blue and white striped tie and black shoes.
Sergeant Paul Harkins, based at Paisley, said: “We are continuing their extensive search for David and I would appeal to anyone with any information on his whereabouts to call us on 0141 532 5900.”
