First Minister praises care and response services

The First Minister has praised the efforts and resilience of those involved in responding to the recent extreme weather conditions. The worst may be over, but Scotland is still expected to face difficult conditions at the start of the new working week.

The Met Office have confirmed that the weather will continue to be challenging in some areas, with an updated yellow ‘be aware’ warning for snow and ice warning in place until Tuesday.  The warning has been increased to include much of the central belt, the Ayrshires and parts of Dumfries & Galloway.

Speaking ahead of a visit to a Lothian Bus depot in Edinburgh this morning, Nicola Sturgeon said: “The extreme weather we have been experiencing is almost unprecedented in its severity, and has clearly presented major challenges to Scotland’s infrastructure.

“It has been a testing time for everyone, but I have been enormously encouraged to see the response from communities coming together, supported by volunteers, and dealing with those challenges together.

“On behalf of the entire country, I would like to thank emergency workers, the public and private sectors, and thousands of volunteers who have done excellent work over this period, with many going above and beyond the call of duty to keep people safe and looked after – including home help staff, social workers, maintenance and roads teams, and those – including the military – who provided staff and resources to support our health services.

“We should also extend our thanks to the partners and families of those who have been working round the clock to keep Scotland safe, with many unexpectedly separated from their loved ones for a number of days dealing with the many challenges that the extreme weather brought.

“And of course, I’d also like to thank those staff who have managed to maintain our transport networks during some particularly trying conditions – some of whom I am meeting later today, including hero bus driver Charmaine Laurie.

“Conditions have improved significantly in many parts of the country but I would urge the Scottish public to remain vigilant. Yellow (be aware) weather warnings are still in place across much of the country.”