FLIGHTS were grounded and schools closed yesterday as freezing conditions continued.

The country woke up to sub-zero temperatures, with a low of -10C recorded at the Erskine Bride in Renfrewshire during the night and -8C noted in Dumfries yesterday morning.

As many as 24 school sites, including secondaries, primaries and nurseries, had to fully or partially close in the Highlands, while Aberdeenshire Council cancelled classes at five of its establishments.

Although airports remained open, the disruption caused by freezing conditions in England led to cancellations and delays at the country’s major hubs.

More than 70 services were called off in total, all of which were to or from England.

Almost 50 flights had been called off at Edinburgh Airport by mid-morning, where crews were busy deicing aircraft, while Aberdeen and Glasgow airports also reported that several shuttles bound for England and the Netherlands were off.

Travellers were advised to contact airlines before leaving for scheduled flights. A Glasgow Airport spokesperson said: “We’re open and fully operational, however, we’ve experienced a number of cancellations.

“This is due to adverse weather conditions at other airports.”

Met Office ice warnings remain in place for the north and east of the country today, with up to 5cm of snow also predicted in some high-lying areas.

Last night forecasters warned England could see the mercury drop as low as -15C, with roads agencies cautioning drivers about travel problems caused by ice. Hundreds of schools north of the border were closed yesterday, with thousands of households also without power.

Western Power Distribution said its engineers had worked through the night to restore power to 99,500 homes in the Midlands, South Wales and South West but 7000 customers were still without electricity, 6500 of them in the West Midlands.

Perth-based SSE said they restored power to more than 50,000 customers on Sunday, but 800 in Oxfordshire and parts of Wiltshire remained without power at 8am yesterday.

More than a foot of snow fell in Sennybridge in Wales, after12.5 inches fell on Sunday.

Yesterday heavy snow remained in many areas of Wales and England, with the white stuff disrupting services on West Midlands Railway and Great Western Railway.

London Northwestern Railway trains to Milton Keynes from London were also delayed or cancelled.

Emergency services warned motorists to drive with caution, even on motorways, with icy slush causing a van to flip over following a collision with two other cars on the M40 motorway.

Met Office spokesman Grahame Madge said: “We are not expecting too much more in terms of fresh snowfall and the risk now transfers to ice.

“We have got fairly widespread clear skies, which will bring temperatures down and where there is lying snow, that creates an ice risk.”

Madge said a weather front coming from France with wintry showers would affect the east and south-east of England, but this would be “nothing like what we’ve seen already”.