STORM Doris has arrived in West Dunbartonshire and brought the cold wind with her.

Early snow and rain pelted Clydebank along with driving winds before calming smewhat in the early afternoon.

Temperatures remain brisk with a yellow weather warning for snow still in place across West Dunbartonshire.

Gritting teams were out through the night and back out again from 7.30am this morning patroling the area. They were expected to continue gritting until midday.

Traffic Scotland warned of high winds on the Erskine bridge and motorists have been advised to check travel information before they embark on their journey.

Stein Connelly, of Traffic Scotland, said: ''On Thursday the worst of any snow will be on the higher routes, especially in the central and south of Scotland, and we would ask road users to keep this in mind when they are planning their journeys and that they drive according to the conditions."

The Met Office issued amber "be prepared" notices for snow across the central belt, the Borders, Dumfries and Galloway, Tayside and Fife on Thursday, while yellow "be aware" warnings are in place for many parts of Scotland.

In Aberdeenshire some schools were closed due to the weather while some school transport is not operating.

All school transport in the Borders has been cancelled for the day as heavy and widespread snow is forecast across much of the area.

Coming after a mainly mild February so far, Scotland is expected to be hit by up to 6in (15cm) of snow falling "quite widely", with accumulations of 12in (30cm) potentially falling on hills above 984ft (300m).

Ferry services have also been affected by the weather, with Caledonian MacBrayne warning of disruption on some west coast routes.

Storm Doris is the first major winter weather front for two months.

The north of the country was worst affected, with homes losing power when Storm Conor hit on Boxing Day with winds of more than 90mph.

Transport Minister Humza Yousaf said: "The Met Office is telling us that Storm Doris will bring a mixture of heavy snow, sleet and rain across central and southern areas and this will lead to poor driving conditions, especially around the Southern Uplands.

"Transport Scotland is working with the relevant organisations, such as Police Scotland and the road operating companies, to try to mitigate the effects of this latest set of wintry conditions, but we would ask road users to be mindful that disruption is likely and to plan accordingly."