Teenager Critical After Crash With Gritter

11 January 2015, 11:14 | Updated: 11 January 2015, 11:16

A 18 year old man's critically ill after the car he was driving collided with a gritter in South Ayrshire.

It happened on Saturday afternoon on Girvan Road in Turnberry.

With much of Scotland covered by a yellow weather alert, thousands of people are experiencing a third day without power.

Homes in the very north of the country have been without electricity since Friday.

Engineers have been working in ''treacherous and worsening conditions'' to reconnect properties.

Charity workers from the Red Cross have been working to reach vulnerable people and provide food, accommodation and generators where possible.

A driver died in a one-car crash in Aberdeenshire where weather has been causing problems and police are investigating if it was a factor.

Weather warnings remain in place for tomorrow with further strong winds, snow and ice forecast.

The Met Office has yellow ''be aware'' weather alerts in place for all of Scotland .

The areas worst affected by power cuts have been Inverness-shire, Oban, Perth, Shetland, Skye and the Western Isles.

Dozens of Red Cross volunteers have been working over the weekend with Scottish and Southern Energy (SSE) to check on people and drop off supplies.

Alan Broadbent, director of engineering, said: ''I would like to praise the work of our men and women out in the field who had to put up with some of the worst weather conditions I have ever encountered.

''I would also like to thank our customers for their patience and understanding. My apologies, once again, for the disruption they had to endure since yesterday.''

Anne Eadie, co-ordinating the Red Cross response, said: ''For everyone affected this is an inconvenience but for many vulnerable people it is a crisis.

''People can be vulnerable because of age, infirmity or a degree of disability. We have been called in to make sure these people are okay and have whatever they need to see this through till power is restored.

''During these visits, we have been delivering gas heaters to households left without heating and providing flasks of hot drinks. If further help is needed, we notify the relevant authorities.''

A gust of 113mph has been recorded at Stornoway on Lewis, the strongest since records at that site began in 1970.

The ferocious gales were stirred up by an extra-powerful jet stream triggered by plunging temperatures in the United States hitting warmer air in the south.