Temperatures of -14.5C on coldest night of winter

Scotland has been gripped by the coldest night of winter so far, with an overnight low of of -14.5C recorded at Altnaharra in the Highlands.

More than 50 schools remain closed in the region, with 13 shut in Aberdeenshire.

Hundreds of other pupils have also had another day off due to closures in Moray, Shetland and the Outer Hebrides.

The Met Office had predicted a 15-year January low of -16C amid a yellow warning for snow and ice in the north of the country.

It would have been the coldest January night since -22.3C was logged in Altnaharra in 2010.

Transport disruption is not predicted to be as widespread after a week of snow and ice.

In the Highlands, the main road networks including the A9, A96 and A82 are all passible, with some delays.

Airports and the rail network are reporting that flights and train journeys are generally running to schedule.

The only ferry disruption so far has been on the Arran route, where strong easterly winds are liable to cause delays.

Friday night is predicted to bring the lowest temperatures of the cold snap in parts of Scotland and northern England, with temperatures between -15C and -20C possible.

Met Office spokesperson Oli Claydon said: "There's a chance we could even see the coldest night of winter again.

"We're expecting to see frost in parts of the south west and Wales. Northern Ireland will be cold again but not as cold as Thursday night.

"But that will be the last of the really low temperatures, with milder weather coming in during the weekend. This will spread from the north down to the south and it could be Monday or Tuesday before the south-west starts to feel the milder temperatures."

Met Office meteorologist Liam Eslick previously said: "Saturday is still going to be another cold one, unfortunately."

But clouds will come in from the west which should prevent temperatures dropping as quickly, he said.

The meteorologist added: "Sunday will still be a chilly one, but not as cold as what we've seen for today and for tomorrow.

"By Monday, we are expecting the temperatures to come back up to what we would expect for this time of year, which is around sort of 7C (or) 8C."

Across the country, Scottish Water said it had recorded a 30% increase in bursts on its network of water mains, as well as pipes in household and business properties.

The company said it expected a further increase over the weekend and into next week as temperatures fall and then rise.

A spokesperson said: "We will work to repair bursts on our network as quickly as possible and, although it is the property owners' responsibility to have bursts on their property repaired, we can sometimes help with these.

"Scottish Water is monitoring the weather conditions and its network around the clock and has teams of engineers ready to be deployed whenever needed."