Edinburgh and surrounding areas were covered in around two inches of snow overnight with
the A1 restricted to one lane in parts of East Lothian.
Primary and high schools were ordered to close in Midlothian, with the heavy snowfalls
making driving treacherous on scores of roads across the East of Scotland.
Edinburgh City Council was forced to dispatch more than 20 gritters, 10 mini-tractors
and four lorries to lay almost 400 tonnes of salt on to main roads in a bid to improve
conditions for motorists and pedestrians.
SLOW PROGRESS: Traffic crawls along the City Bypass near Dreghorn on the as the wintry
conditions take their toll on roads in the Lothians.
Pictures: JULIE BULL
Heavy lorries were warned to avoid the A68 at Carter Bar south of Jedburgh, while
roads around Dalkeith and the Esk Valley were also affected by the heavy snow.
Forecasters today said the worst was over for the Lothians with conditions expected to
improve tomorrow. But they warned more snow and plunging temperatures were on the way
to large parts of the rest of Britain.
Me and Snowman
Edinburgh UK's second most prosperous city
EDINBURGH is the most prosperous city in the United Kingdom outside London, and Glasgow
is not far behind, according to a major new survey published yesterday.
An economic review of Scotland’s cities, comparing them with cities across Britain
and Europe, showed that Edinburgh, Glasgow and Aberdeen were doing extremely well in
British terms and better than expected against their European counterparts.
The report revealed that Edinburgh generated the highest per capita gross domestic
product of any UK city except London, with Glasgow just behind. Aberdeen had the highest
average earnings outside London.
Researchers took account of a range of indicators, from house prices to technology jobs.
Their findings ran counter to the popular perception that Scotland’s economy lags behind
the rest of Britain and Europe.
They showed that, at least as far as its big areas of population are concerned,
Scotland can rival its European counterparts when it comes to making money and other
measures of prosperity.
