Storm Bert brings Scotland to a standstill as snow, wind and rain collide

The Central Belt was particularly at at the mercy of the multi-hazard storm with large parts of the area waking up to snow and wintry conditions.

The Queensferry Crossing closed due to the risk of falling ice while Lothian Buses took the unusual step of suspending all routes across the capital as drivers struggled to cope with the state of the roads. Services were restored over the course of the afternoon.

Meanwhile, 12 matches in the Scottish Professional Football League were postponed and all six rugby fixtures in the Arnold Clark Premiership cancelled.

READ MORE: In pictures: Storm Bert batters Scotland

An amber warning for snow in the morning gave way to yellow warnings for snow, wind, and rain, which remained in place on Saturday night.

Gusts of up to 105mph were recorded in the Cairngorms with windspeeds of 60 to 70mph affecting exposed coastal areas in the Highlands and Islands. Tiree recorded 67mph winds on Saturday afternoon.

Queensferry Crossing was closed at 10.30am on Saturday with M90 traffic stopped while automated barriers at either end of the route were moved into position to redirect the motorway over the neighbouring Forth Road Bridge

Dave Bishop, BEAR Scotland’s South East Unit Bridges Manager, said the decision after ice formed on the Queensferry Crossing’s cables.

Mr Bishop said: “Safety is our top priority, so we always have patrols out monitoring for ice on the Queensferry Crossing’s cables when forecasts suggest this is a possibility.

“We’ve now observed ice falling so have taken the decision to close the bridge.A diversion via the Forth Road Bridge is currently being opened and we expect traffic to be on the move again within the hour.”

Meanwhile, traffic struggled to keep moving on the M8 after several vehicles “lost traction” in the snow at Junction 3. An HGV was later towed from the area.

The M80 Northbound at J7 was blocked when two HGV's got stuck in the snow with long tailbacks forming while gritters and ploughs moved in to treat the area.

Widespread disruption was also felt on the rail network with several routes suspended in the north east and delays felt on services across the country. A tree was removed from the line between Glasgow Queen Street and Bishopbriggs.

Meanwhile, Jeremy Corbyn MP was unable to make a pro-Palestine march in Glasgow after his train to Scotland was cancelled due to the storm.

The former Labour leader – who sits as an independent MP – was set to give a speech at the protest but audience members were told he was unable to attend.

England and the south of Wales felt the full force of Storm Bert on Saturday.

Ten people, including five children, were rescued after a landslide in Llanarmon Dyffryn Ceiriog, Wales.

A man died after his car collided with a tree near Winchester in Hampshire.

Widespread power cuts were reported across England with 6,000 homes in Cumbria losing supply after overhead lines were damaged by “flying debris and ice accumulation”.

About 2,000 homes in the north-west of England remained without electricity by the evening, mostly in Cumbria.

A spokesman for SSE said there had been “minimal damage” to its network with only localised faults reported.

He added: “We remain on alert with further high winds forecast for tomorrow (Sunday).”