Millions of travellers were hit by more disruptions today as they tried to defy the icy conditions to begin their Christmas journeys by road, rail and air.
Temperatures in Glasgow fell to -9°C, while in some parts of the Highlands it was -15°C.
Gritting lorries were out to ease the treacherous road conditions on the roads, while early-morning drivers also faced freezing fog.
About 12 million motorists were expected to make journeys across the UK today, with around one million of those in Scotland.
Motoring organisation the AA attended around 18,000 breakdowns yesterday – more than double the 8,500 call-outs it normally gets at this time of year.
An AA spokesman said: “We advise motorists to carry all the essentials in case of breakdown or accident.”
After almost a week of ice, snow and sub-zero temperatures, transport networks have been ravaged by cancellations and delays, leaving many holiday plans in tatters.
Snow continued to fall in parts of Scotland today, but forecasters said Glasgow would be unlikely to see any today or tomorrow, although temperatures would struggle
to get above freezing.
A Meteo Group spokesman said: It should be dry and cold today and on Christmas Day. Glasgow might get some snow on Boxing Day, but it does not look like there will any in the city tomorrow.”
Transport operators were hoping for fewer weather-related problems today, but there were still problems.
Dozens of rail routes were affected by points failures.
They included services from Motherwell to Lanark, Croy to Larbert, Carstairs to Garscadden and Larkhall to Dalmuir.
Passengers travelling from Glasgow Central to Paisley Canal, Whifflet, Gourock, North Berwick and Ayr also faced delays and cancellations.
Early morning services between Glasgow Queen Street and Edinburgh were also hit and the 8am, 8.30am and 9am services from Haymarket were affected by cancellations.
A spokesman for Network Rail said: “We’ve got some problems with points in the Glasgow area, which are causing short notice disruption and cancellations.”
Rail services in England also experienced delays and last night’s 9.16pm London Euston to Inverness sleeper service was more than three hours late arriving in the Highlands.
People travelling by air were also hit. Budget airline easyJet cancelled 16 services at airports including to and from Gatwick, Edinburgh, Stansted and Liverpool.
Flybe’s 4.30pm flight today to Campbeltown from Glasgow and an Air Southwest service to Newquay from the city, due to leave at 6.10 tonight, were also cancelled.
These followed on from problems yesterday, when there were 10 cancelled flights from Glasgow Airport, including a British Airways connection to and from Heathrow and an easyJet flight to and from London Gatwick.
In all, easyJet cancelled about 36 of its 1,000 scheduled flights across the country.
Although Scotland’s major airports were expecting fewer disruptions, airport operator BAA advised passengers to check with their airlines before travelling.
Since the weekend, the wintry conditions have claimed nine lives across the UK, including two pensioners who were killed when their bus crashed on an icy stretch of road in Cornwall late on Tuesday night. Six people are still in hospital, one in a serious condition.
