Drivers have been rescued after heavy snow stranded vehicles overnight and buried roads in the north of Scotland.

Highland Council said emergency services have been assisting the rescue operation after vehicles became trapped on the A835 between Ullapool and Garve.

It said around 20 vehicles were stranded in snow at Loch Droma.

Road management organisation Bear Scotland said the vehicles had become stranded in two-metre snow drifts.

Network Rail said services have been disrupted on the Highland Mainline despite plough trains being used to clear snow.

READ MORE: Upgraded weather warnings as Five days of snow predicted

It comes as a Met Office amber weather warning for snow is in place across large parts of Scotland until 6am on Saturday.

Elsewhere, Bear Scotland said the A85 is closed west of Methven in Perth and Kinross due to flooding caused by surface water and all vehicles except HGVs and buses are being diverted.

The Herald:

The amber weather warning covers Central, Tayside and Fife, Grampian, the Highlands and Islands and Argyll and Bute, warning the conditions could cause road and rail disruption, and power cuts.

It forecast 10-15cm of snow at low levels, with 20-30cm accumulating above about 150m.

A separate yellow warning forecasts periods of snow, heavy at times, for much of inland central and northern Scotland through Friday and into Saturday.

READ MORE: Snow warnings in Glasgow, Edinburgh and Highland

A further warning for snow and ice covers the length of Britain from midday on Saturday to midnight on Monday.

By next week, temperatures will be struggling to get much above 0C in quite a few places, with some areas such as the Pennines and high parts of Scotland seeing several degrees below that.