Scottish Labour's transport spokesman, Charlie Gordon, said "serious questions" needed to be answere

An inquest into the death of a driver who was hit by a vehicle after he stopped to help a stranded motorist in freezing conditions has been opened and adjourned, PA report. The man who died in the collision on the edge of the Yorkshire Dales last week was named by police today as Paul Clarkson, 57, from East Appleton, near Richmond, North Yorkshire.
North Yorkshire Police cheap airline flights to florida described earlier cheap airline flights to florida how Clarkson was standing behind his Land Rover Defender when he was struck by a Land Rover Freelander. He had stopped to help recover a Vauxhall Corsa from a ditch at Bellerby Bank, between Richmond and Leyburn, on the edge of the Yorkshire Dales, when the accident happened. A force spokesman said the incident cheap airline flights to florida happened on the A6108 at 7pm on December 2. He said Clarkson stopped to help recover the Vauxhall Corsa, which had left the road and ended up in a ditch. As he was standing behind his vehicle, he was hit by the Freelander, which was travelling down Bellerby Bank, trapping him between the two vehicles. The Defender was also shunted into the Corsa. Clarkson was taken to Friarage Hospital, in Northallerton, cheap airline flights to florida with serious cheap airline flights to florida injuries. Officers said he was pronounced dead a short time later. Clarkson's wife, who has not been named, was in the passenger seat of the Defender when it was struck but was not injured. The man driving the Corsa and the woman driving the Freelander escaped injury, police said. Officers issued an appeal for motorists to take care on icy roads following the incident. The inquest into Clarkson's death was opened and adjourned in Northallerton, North Yorkshire, today.
Hundreds cheap airline flights to florida of travellers were caught out yesterday as a fresh wave of snow and blizzards struck major routes in central Scotland. Pensioners Stewart and Kathleen Hendrie described their experience as "appalling". They left their daughter's house on Glasgow's south side at 10am on Monday and finally sought warmth in a hotel in Cumbernauld at 4am today. The couple were trying to make their way home to Falkirk when they were caught up in Kathleen, 66, said: "We had breakfast with my daughter at 8am before setting off home. It was 9pm before we ate again after we walked a mile along the road to a petrol station. "The hunger we could deal with, but the worst thing was the intense cold. I didn't know how long we'd be stuck and at one point I joked with my husband that I thought I was going to get hypothermia. "We put £10 of petrol in the car before setting cheap airline flights to florida off, which is more than enough to make the journey, but we were starting to run out of fuel after leaving the engine running to keep warm. "Luckily, there was a van near us who let us come inside for a while to get a blast of heat when it was minus 14 outside." The couple's son, Douglas, managed to book Kathleen and her 65-year-old husband into the Westerwood Hotel in Cumbernauld after they had been stuck at the Crowwood Roundabout for five hours. However, it was a further 15 hours before they were able to make the eight-mile cheap airline flights to florida journey, finally checking into the hotel just after 4am. Kathleen said: "It was so good to get into the warm and get a good breakfast. We only managed to sleep for a few hours and then we decided to leave just after 9am. "It hadn't snowed in a while and we wanted to chance cheap airline flights to florida getting back to Falkirk while we could. We just wanted to get home. "It was an appalling experience I would never want to repeat again. We were starving, freezing and, above all, worried. If there's even one flake of snow that falls again I won't be going out in it."
The 51-year-old woman was walking her two dogs in a densely-wooded area of the Valley Gardens in Saltburn, Cleveland, at 9am when she slipped off the footpath. She rang the emergency services from her mobile, despite only having patchy reception, and officers set out to find her. They struggled to locate the woman as she was hidden from view by trees as the temperature hovered around minus 2C (28.4F). Colleagues in the Cleveland Police helicopter managed to find her using a thermal imaging camera at about 9.45am. cheap airline flights to florida With the help of search and rescue specialists, the woman was lifted to safety on a spinal board as a precaution and taken to the James Cook University Hospital for a check-up. The Valley Gardens area of the seaside town is popular with dog walkers, and is known for its steep, wooded paths.
This video is perhaps a little long, and djvinster's cheap airline flights to florida presentational style may not quite be to everyone's taste, but it provides cheap airline flights to florida a real sense of just how chaotic the roads were in parts of Scotland yesterday.
Before you start the car in the morning, make sure everything is switched off - including the heater, fan, lights and radio. Turn the ignition key to the 'on' position for two or three seconds to allow the electronics to get going before starting the engine. cheap airline flights to florida These actions will save valuable energy - every volt is precious in cold weather.
Severin Carrell reports cheap airline flights to florida that while travellers on the mainland have been grappling with the misery of gridlocked roads and treacherous driving cheap airline flights to florida conditions, residents on the tiny Hebridean island of Canna have been relishing a very rare cold snap – as depicted in this stunning picture.
Canna, which lies just south west of Skye, is normally protected from severe winters by its sheltered position and the surrounding sea. It rarely snows there. But for only the third time in living memory, its bay has frozen over, to give a spectacular view over the sea to Skye.
Stewart Connor, of the National Trust for Scotland, which owns the island of about 25 inhabitants, said: "It has been unusually cold, but as the pictures show, spectacular. It's unusual for Canna to experience such low temperatures. While the bay did start to freeze over last year, it wasn't as bad as this.
"Over the last week or so, we've also had some snow, but this melted quickly and didn't cause any of the disruption that the mainland has experienced. It did last long enough though for the children cheap airline flights to florida to get a few snowmen built, which in itself is a rare experience on Canna."
Scottish Labour's transport spokesman, Charlie Gordon, said "serious questions" needed to be answered about the response from the authorities. Gordon praised the emergency services for their work but added: "We have just experienced the worst gridlock in living memory and hundreds of drivers spent the night stranded in their cars. "We have to ask serious questions about whether there was a failure of planning and Transport cheap airline flights to florida Minister cheap airline flights to florida Stewart Stevenson should come before Parliament and explain why he thinks things went so badly wrong." Gordon added: "It is not good enough for the SNP Government to blame the weather forecast when heavy snow and ice was predicted by the BBC on Sunday night. Much clearer warnings should have been given telling people not to travel."
There is no point in pretending other than that there has been a total collapse of our transport infrastructure. cheap airline flights to florida At the very least, most Scots will have expected that lessons should have been learned from last winter's snowfalls yet it is clear that once again our transport network is paralysed. Today, our first priority is to assist anyone still in difficulty. Thereafter, Stewart Stevenson must lead the Scottish cheap airline flights to florida Parliament in a full investigation into Scotland's preparedness for future severe winter weather and the co-ordination of our national response. The Transport Minister must also clear up why the BBC forecast yesterday's snowfall but the Scottish Government apparently wasn't listening. Where did Stewart Stevenson get his advice? While we cannot be prepared for every and any eventuality, it is our duty to ensure that Scotland's response is more effective than it patently currently is. We must ensure that Scotland is better informed and prepared next time - recognising that 'next time' could be imminent.
The warnings, the second most severe in the Met Office's armoury, are in place from 12.30pm today. The agency's earlier notification ( 9.10am ) of heavy snow in the north of Scotland remains in place.
Strathclyde Police, together with Central Scotland Police, Lothian and Borders Police and Scottish Government agency Transport Scotland, have urged people not to venture out today unless their journey is "absolutely essential".
Due to the extremely cold temperatures experienced across the central belt overnight, the gritting operation that has been carried out will not have had a significant cheap airline flights to florida impact on the ice that has built up on roads across the region. People are therefore advised not to travel this morning unless it is absolutely essential.
cheap airline flights to florida The Scottish transport minister, Stewart cheap airline flights to florida Stevenson, has elaborated on his comments to the Today programme this morning cheap airline flights to florida by admitting that the weather forecast the government were given "appears to have been different" from that of some other forecasters.
Stevenson told BBC Radio Scotland that the authorities had been caught out by the severity of the weather yesterday, and would examine why the weather forecasts authorities were given was different to other predictions. Hundreds of people were left stranded in their cars overnight after heavy snowfall.
He insisted staff had been making "quite heroic efforts", but added: "Today we're now facing cheap airline flights to florida temperatures so low that salt is no longer working on the network. "We've actually seen snow ploughs damaged by the solidity of the ice on the M8."
"I want to know why that's the case because we can't have that happening again," he said. "That's a clear part of what we've got to look at to make sure that we improve." And while he said the authorities "normally get it right", he added: cheap airline flights to florida "That's no comfort to the many people who have been stuck in their cars overnight in quite atrocious conditions."
He said the road operating companies and local councils had been "making terrific efforts" to deal with the conditions, but added: "It simply hasn't delivered for the people who are stuck there. "I think it's right that they know that we are sorry for the