Freezing temperatures over the last two days saw most of Scotland hit by ice and snow, leaving many Christmas shoppers and late-night revellers facing hazardous walking conditions.

In the Glasgow area the number of admissions to A&E hit a record for the year yesterday.

A spokeswoman for NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde said: “We have been particularly busy today and the number of people coming in as a result of trips or falls due to the weather has certainly increased.”

She added that these incidents, along with seasonal viral infections such as influenza, were now making up a “quite significant” proportion of the A&E workload.

Compacted snow and ice on residential streets in Glasgow prompted criticism of the council’s gritting service by some residents.

Pavements in other towns across the west of Scotland were also treacherous.

Robert Gilmour, 78, from Jordanhill, who had a knee operation seven weeks ago, was gingerly making his way from his car to his front door.

“I’m really not impressed,” he said. “There have been no gritters in this area. You would have assumed that outside the school would have been a priority. I have to say it’s very unusual -- usually they are very quick.”

Locals resorted to using railings and hedgerows to help them stay upright. Steven Ellis, 33, was making slow progress trying to walk his dog. “Some of the roads seem to have been gritted but none of the pavements have been touched,” he said. “It’s really quite dangerous. It’s the older people you feel for.”

Fellow dog-walker David Dilworth, 45, said: “It’s absolutely terrible. It has taken us 10 minutes to walk less than 200 yards. The dog has already taken a tumble. I’ve a few old neighbours who won’t even leave the house because they are so scared of falling. I’ve had to go to the shop for them over the weekend.”

A Glasgow City Council spokesman said: “We provide a 24/7 service over the winter and controllers make calls on what resources to use on any given day based on weather forecasts. We target priority routes first, including 568 miles of roads and 215 miles of footways.”

Hilly routes and the city centre were targeted first, according to the council’s website, with a team of 26 gritter lorries and 350 staff on hand to minimise the danger to motorists and pedestrians.

The number of grit bins across the city is also up 150 on last year, the spokesman added.

 

Elsewhere a man found in the snow outside his home in Stornoway, on the Isle of Lewis, is believed to have frozen to death as snowstorms continued to cause chaos across the UK yesterday.

Donald Martin, 35, died after being found in a coma by a neighbour in freezing conditions.

And a grandmother is in a serious but stable condition in hospital after she became locked out of her home overnight in sub-zero temperatures.

Jeanette Wright, 60, was found “frozen in a ball” by a neighbour in Gorebridge, Midlothian, on Sunday morning.

In Grampian a teenager suffered a serious head injury when his family car skidded off an icy road yesterday morning.

The crash happened on the southbound carriageway of the A90 Aberdeen to Dundee road, three miles south of Stonehaven.

Schools and airports are also feeling the effects of the cold snap. In South Lanarkshire more than 25 schools were closed due to the wintry conditions, and several schools in North Lanarkshire shut early to allow pupils to get home before the weather worsened.

More snow and ice is expected to cause problems across Scotland for motorists and passengers at airports today.

Glasgow Airport has advised passengers to check with their airline that their flight is operating before travelling.

Budget airline easyJet said the hangover from yesterday’s bad weather would see scores of flights cancelled from Luton, Gatwick, Stansted, Glasgow and Edinburgh airports this morning.

British Airways cancelled all UK and European flights departing after 7pm yesterday, and was “strongly” advising passengers to check their flight status before setting off today.

Air passengers faced major delays after Gatwick Airport’s runway was shut for several hours yesterday for de-icing while Luton suspended flights due to icy conditions.

And there was a warning today that more wintry weather was on the way.

Clare Allen, a forecaster for MeteoGroup, the weather arm of the Press Association, said: “There will be snow showers in western areas of Scotland.

“It will be a very cold day again.”