A number of accidents were reported across the region during the early morning rush hour but no-one was seriously hurt.

In rural Angus and Perthshire bumps were reported at Westmuir, on the A90 at Brechin, and at Pitlochry.

The only school reported to fall victim to the conditions in Perthshire was the remote Glenlyon Primary School, while Arbirlot Primary, in Angus, was closed.

In Dundee, drivers experienced problems on the southbound section of the A90, between the Kingsway at Forfar Road and Fountainbleau Road, which had to be closed.

A number of cars were stranded until a snow plough cleared the carriageway.

On Victoria Road, at the foot of the Hilltown, a two-vehicle accident occurred at 10.20 am. No one was hurt but traffic lights were damaged.

A further accident occurred in the grounds of Ninewells Hospital where a bus was in collision with a parked car. No injuries were reported.

Tayside Contracts, responsible for gritting the roads across the region, have had an army of workers out over the past days.

Managing director Iain Waddell said a total of 380 staff were working round the clock to ensure the region’s roads were as safe as possible.

He said, “We have men on standby for all eventualities and they have been out and about early today getting salt down on both footpaths and carriageways.

“In all, 84 gritters are out — 52 of which are purpose built and 32 of which are demounts and sit on the back of normal operational lorries.

“We also have 63 footpath tractors out.

“The public always makes comment that they haven’t seen a gritter or the roads haven’t been cleared but you really have to measure our effectiveness by how quickly things are cleared once the snow stops.

“This year is the first time in about seven years we have had snow of this quantity on this number of occasions prior to Christmas.”

Dundee City Council urged city dwellers, especially the elderly and vulnerable, to stay indoors today unless their trip out was absolutely necessary.

A spokesman said, “The weather conditions are bad but every effort is being made to keep the priority roads, including bus routes, as clear as possible.

“However, the advice, especially to older people, is not to undertake any journey unless it is absolutely essential.”

The Met Office last night issued a flash warning of severe or extreme weather affecting Tayside, Fife and Central Scotland and it looks like winter is here to stay for at least the next few days.

The latest forecast from the Met Office predicts a widespread frost and freezing patches tonight with temperatures dipping to –7 degrees Centigrade overnight.

Tomorrow is expected to be dry with plenty of sunshine but the frost will not lift as the maximum predicted temperature is zero degrees.

The Met Office also warns more snow is on its way.

A spokesman said, “The cold front will continue through the next couple of days, but our main focus will be the early hours on Thursday when the Atlantic weather system comes in and there will be the potential for quite a lot of snow.

Much of Scotland is at risk from this.

“There may be a lot of wind as well, which could lead to significant drifting.

“The weather should stay cold, not much above freezing.”

Meanwhile, around one to two inches of snow fell over parts of Forfar and Kirriemuir.

By 10am the skies were clear but with further snow showers forecast, warnings of black ice still widespread and with clouds visible over the glens, there remained a strong risk of disruption for motorists.

Main roads throughout Angus were open but many rural routes were hazardous with some side roads blocked.

On some sections of the A92 coast road through north Angus and the Mearns traffic was reduced to a crawl by the slippery conditions.

In Grampian 86 schools were closed or partially closed.

Among them were Auchenblae, Fettercairn, Glenbervie, Luthermuir and St Cyrus because of the road conditions and lack of school transport.

Mearns Academy, Laurencekirk, was partially closed although some classes were maintained for staff and pupils able to make their way to the school.

The snow had not spread to central and south Fife this morning but wintry showers were expected to hit the region later in the day.

George Miezitis, roads service team leader for Fife Council, said, “More bad weather is expected for Fife and we are prepared for that.

“We get regular updates from the Met Office and we also continue to monitor the weather ourselves and react to it accordingly.

“Every gritter in Fife has been working continuously since 1am and all the high priority roads were done by 9 am.

“This work is continuing to the villages and footways.”