In Pictures: Balmoral blanketed in snow as Scotland faces worst of the cold snap

Balmoral Castle blanketed in snow on Friday morning (Jane Barlow/PA) - (PA Wire)

Balmoral Castle has been covered in snow and ice as Scotland faces the brunt of the cold snap on Friday.

Temperatures reached as low as minus 6C at Tulloch Bridge on Thursday night.

The Met Office issued an amber alert for central-north Scotland and yellow warnings across the UK ahead of Storm Bert, which is set to arrive on Saturday and bring “heavy rain, strong winds and disruptive snow to parts of the UK through the weekend”.

Milk is left in the snow at the entrance to Balmoral Castle (Jane Barlow/PA) (PA Wire)

Crathie Kirk, near Balmoral, is surrounded by snow and ice (Jane Barlow/PA) (PA Wire)

Sunrise over the partially frozen River Dee (Jane Barlow/PA) (PA Wire)

The Prince Albert Cairn, built in 1862 by Queen Victoria, rises out of the snow (Jane Barlow/PA) (PA Wire)

Ryan Phillips walks Arty the Siberian husky in the snowy grounds of Balmoral (Jane Barlow/PA) (PA Wire)

A car travels down a snowy A93 near Balmoral with a red telephone box half-submerged in snow (Jane Barlow/PA) (PA Wire)

Balmoral Castle surrounded by snow and ice (Jane Barlow/PA) (PA Wire)

A person walks through the snow on the Balmoral Estate (Jane Barlow/PA) (PA Wire)

A wall of Scots pine trees covered in snow on the Balmoral Estate (Jane Barlow/PA) (PA Wire)

Other parts of the UK are also facing tough weather.

Fresh snow in Ingleton, North Yorkshire (Danny Lawson/PA) (PA Wire)

A worker fits an internet cable at a property in Horton in Ribblesdale, North Yorkshire (Danny Lawson/PA) (PA Wire)

A snow-covered sheep in snow-covered Ribblehead in North Yorkshire (Danny Lawson/PA) (PA Wire)

Waves batter Tynemouth pier lighthouse in Tyne and Wear (Owen Humphreys/PA) (PA Wire)

A bundled-up visitor walks between fountains in Hyde Park, London (Jonathan Brady/PA) (PA Wire)