First Minister calling on people to "pay close attention" to Hogmanay weather warnings
A yellow weather warning will be in place for most of Scotland as New Year festivities begin
People are being urged to “pay close attention” to weather warnings across Scotland as they head out for Hogmanay celebrations.
Most of the country will be under a Met Office yellow warning on December 30 and 31, with heavy rain and snow forecast to potentially cause “significant disruption”.
The warning applies to the Scottish mainland from Kilmarnock and Edinburgh north, and the Western Isles, with most areas expected to see 50-70mm of rain across the two days - though up to 140mm could fall in some places.
The forecaster added that snow is also "likely" on higher ground north and east of, and including, Perthshire, with strong winds potentially causing blizzard conditions in some areas, particularly over higher ground and across much of Sutherland and Caithness.
"It's an inevitable feature we've got to wrestle with"
The Met Office said the weather is likely to cause difficult driving conditions and some road closures, flooding, power cuts, disruption to public transport, and that some communities could be cut off.
It also warned "fast flowing or deep floodwater" is possible, causing a danger to life.
John Swinney said the Scottish Government is "monitoring the weather warnings very closely".
He added: "We have yellow weather warnings for rain, predominantly, over most of Scotland, for Monday and Tuesday, which may well have an effect on some of the outdoor events that are taking their course.
"Follow all of the warnings"
"We're obviously at the vagaries of the weather this time of year, it's an inevitable feature we've got to wrestle with.
"But the resilience planning is undertaken across Government on a daily basis, and we are looking ahead to the events around about Hogmanay to make sure that everybody can enjoy the festivities but be safe in the process.
"I would urge members of the public to follow all of the warnings because they will develop over the course of the next few days and it's vital that all of us pay close attention to those warnings."
Hear the latest news on Clyde 1 on FM, DAB, smart speaker or the Rayo app.