SCOTTISH Borders Council’s emergency planning chief has warned of “exceptionally difficult” conditions after the Met Office issued an amber alert for snow.

The snow warning for the Borders is set to apply from 6pm tonight (January 20) until 8am tomorrow.

SBC’s emergency planning officer, Jim Fraser, described the amount of snow tipped for the region as “significant” and warned Borderers to “bring forward or delay” any journeys.

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“The levels of snow forecast are significant and could result in exceptionally difficult travel conditions, particularly on higher routes through this evening and overnight,” he said.

“In line with the current lockdown, journeys should only be undertaken if essential, and I would urge Borderers to consider whether they could bring forward or delay their journey to avoid this period of severe weather.

“The council will have all available winter maintenance resources out this afternoon, throughout the evening and overnight, including additional contractors deployed to assist with snow clearance and we will continue to monitor the conditions and weather forecasts closely.”

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In a press release issued at 3.17pm today, SBC also stated that heavy winds are expected for Thursday – although no warning is currently in place.

Regarding their warning for “heavy snow”, a Met Office spokesperson said: “5-10cm of snow is likely to accumulate across most of the warning area, with 10-20cm above 200m elevation and perhaps around 30cm above 400m.”

Shortly after issuing the amber snow warning, the Met Office updated their yellow warning for rain to a later end time of 10am on Thursday morning.

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The council says schools will be open as usual tomorrow – although the majority of children are currently working from home.

SBC also offered an update on bin and recycling collections, which they say “may not be completed”.

A council spokesperson said: “Where any collections are missed, householders are asked to leave their bins out for collection where it is safe to do so and re-collections will be attempted wherever possible.”