Communities across the north and north-east have been warned to be on their guard against flooding after freezing conditions caused chaos across the north and north-east yesterday.
Schools were closed to more than 1,800 pupils and transport ground to a standstill on icy roads as the first snowfall of the season blanketed parts of the region.
Forecasters have now issued a yellow weather warning for rain in Inverness and across the north-east until 6am today.
And residents across parts of Nairn, Moray, Aberdeen and Aberdeenshire have been told to be on their guard against flooding.
The Scottish Environmental Protection Agency (Sepa) has warned that rivers could burst their banks and send water cascading into towns as the ice thaws.
A statement said: “A spell of persistent rain, combined with some snowmelt, could cause surface water flooding.
“The greatest risk will be in urban areas and across the transport network.
“Rivers will also respond to the rainfall and this could result in flooding from small and medium sized watercourses.”
Hundreds of youngsters spent the day at home yesterday as schools closed due to the bad weather.
Two Highland high schools, Grantown Grammar School and Kingussie High School, ceased lessons for the day – affecting classes for 765 pupils.
A total of 11 primary schools also closed their doors to 1,039 pupils alongside eight nurseries.
Charletson School in Aberdeen was left with no heating and had to close as well.
Officials of the Royal Dornoch Golf Club were forced to restrict entry to their championship course as heavy rain fell on frozen ground.
Inspectors evaluated conditions on the course at around 11am before cordoning off the area.
Conditions on various routes forced traffic to grind to a halt.
Some Highland roads were submerged by rain, while sleet and snow showers combined with the sub-zero temperatures to create icy conditions.
Drivers on the A9 Inverness to Perth trunk road were reduced to speeds of 20mph due to the challenging driving conditions.
Meanwhile, five miles north at Tomatin, motorists heading south ground to a halt after a lorry jack-knifed due to icy conditions at the steep brae on the A9 at Daviot.
The delays also affected Megabus services between the Highlands and the central belt.
In the north-east, police issued a warning to motorists as conditions became hazardous.
The A93 Inchmarlo to Ballater road and the B993 near to Dinnet were especially tricky to navigate amid the snow. Several trees had also been blown onto the carriageways.
Motorists were warned to avoid the A957 road between Stonehaven and Banchory as it became congested after a lorry got stuck in the treacherous conditions.
Ferry and rail services were also impacted.
Scheduled train services between Inverness and Aviemore were delayed and revised yesterday as heavy snow caused signalling problems in the area.
Ferry services run by Calmac and Northlink were also either axed or changed due to strong winds and rough tides.
Meanwhile on the west coast, services between Barra and Eriskay were altered as various crossing from Fionnphort and Iona and Uig and Lochmaddy were cancelled.
Calmac has also taken the decision to cancel their early morning crossing today between Ullapool and Stornoway.
A spokesman for the Met Office said the weather would get less severe over the weekend.
He said: “Saturday will be cold and cloudy with rain in most areas at times and there is still a chance some might see a little snow on hill tops.
“The rain will become confined to mainly eastern areas as we go through the rest of the weekend and into the start of next week.
“Elsewhere it will be mostly dry with sunny spells but staying cold with overnight frost and fog.”
