Icy issues on Friday night and early Saturday in Caithness

The Met Office issued a Yellow Warning for icy surfaces that may cause issues for motorists and pedestrians in Caithness today and tomorrow.

Issued at 10.32am the bulletin states: "A combination of showery rain, melting snow and very cold surfaces will lead to a risk of icy surfaces across the area.

Advice:

Keep yourself and your family safe when it is icy. Plan to leave the house at least five minutes earlier than normal. Not needing to rush, reduces your risk of accidents, slips, and falls. If you need to make a journey on foot, try to use pavements along main roads which are likely to be less slippery.

Similarly, if cycling, try and stick to main roads which are more likely to have been treated. Give yourself the best chance of avoiding delays by checking road conditions if driving, or bus and train timetables, amending your travel plans if necessary. Be prepared for weather warnings to change: when a weather warning is issued, the Met Office recommends staying up to date with the weather forecast in your area.

What to expect:

• Some injuries from slips and falls on icy surfaces
• Some icy patches on some untreated roads, pavements and cycle paths

Highland Council's road conditions report for Caithness posted at 8.24am states: "Main routes being opened first thing this morning. All passable with caution. Tractors and diggers working on areas worst affected by drifting to widen routes to double carriageway.

"Priority 2 and 3 routes will be looked at when main priority routes are treated. Priority footpaths being treated in Wick and Thurso. No issues reported. The U3618 Newton Row [Road] between the A882 Thurso Road and U3616 Newton Avenue in Wick is closed until further notice. This is due to a gas leak."

At the time of issue, there are a number of schools or nurseries closed today as a result of bad weather.

Do you want to respond to this article? If so, click here to submit your thoughts and they may be published in print.