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Severe weather warnings of heavy snow on the way for many parts of Scotland have been issued by the Met Office.

Aberdeen, Aberdeenshire, the Highlands and Orkney are expected to experience the worst of the continuing winter weather from Thursday into Friday.

Northern and eastern Aberdeenshire and the Highlands could have up to 10cm, with 5cm possible elsewhere.

Drivers are being urged to take extra care amid expected difficult Christmas Eve driving conditions.

A heavy overnight snowfall in Grampian has already caused problems.

Aberdeen suffered a particularly bad night, leaving side roads difficult to negotiate for morning commuters, many of whom got stuck.

The snow fell on already frozen road surfaces, making conditions very slippery.

Staff from councils and the trunk roads agency Bear Scotland have been out gritting and ploughing major routes.

Trains have continued to experience some disruption, and a dog was photographed wrapped up warm on a delayed Aberdeen-bound service.

Highland Council warned it has already used much more road salt than expected.

The authority started the winter with just over 40,000 tonnes of salt and has already used almost all of it.

It means salt will be mixed with grit on high priority roads over the holiday period while grit will be used on less vital routes.