Minister vows: "We are fit and ready to fight big freeze" LOCAL authorities have ordered in more salt than ever before in preparation for a week ofwintry weather, the Scottish Government have said. Transport minister Keith Brown said more gritters and specialist equipment had also been purchased to combat snow and ice on the roads. Wintry showers started in the north-east of Scotland on Saturday and quickly spread south overnight. Accumulations of aout 3cm have fallen in the east and the Borders, with more snow expected on Monday morning. The average temperature of 2C is expected to fall dramatic­ally, and the Met Office has issued yellow "be prepared" weather warnings for Grampian, Central, Tayside and Fife, the Lothians and the Borders, Strathclyde and the Highlands. Ice warnings have been issued for much of the country, with rain and sleet mixing with the snowfall. Mr Brown said: "Local authorities and operating companies have more salt in stock or on order than ever before, additional gritters and specialist equipment have been purchased, and new weather stations and cameras are helping to improve decision making and deliver better informed communications." Several centimetres of snow settled on many areas yesterday, and a Met Office spokesman said the cold weather would continue well into the middle of this week, particularly in the east, with temperatures predicted to plummet as low as -12C in higher regions. The Met Office spokesman said he did not expect the snow to cause major problems for drivers, although he warned motorists should be aware of icy roads. He said further snow this week would bring good news for skiers. "The weather over the next few days will be very encouraging for ski resorts," he said. There will be continued snow showers across the east from Aberdeenshire, down through Fife, Edinburgh and the Lothians and into the Borders into Tuesday and Wednesday. Clear skies and freezing temperatures means it will stay cold and the snow will lie. With winds easing up, it is looking good for midweek, with favourable conditions for skiers. Shoppers stocked up at the weekend in anticipation of snow. Online retailer Amazon said sales of sledges had surged by 600 per cent. "Sledging is undoubtedly the best thing about snow and, hopefully, a lot of fun will be had by all this weekend," said Xavier Garambois, vice-president of its EU retail section. Tesco also said shoppers appeared to have been "looking forward to the lighter side of the snowfall," with a spokesman saying sledges, snowshoes and snowball blasters had been proving popular. But the forecasts also led to an increase in snow shovels and anti-freeze as people prepared for potential weather hazards. The RAC is expecting up to 56,000 breakdowns and widespread disruption across the UK. It placed extra patrols on stand-by to help stranded motorists and said call-outs were expected to rise by 20 per cent or more. However, the Met Office Scottish spokesman said he believed drivers north of the Border were more used to snowy conditions. "It's normal winter for Scotland," he said. Snow tends to cause more disruption in England, and there's been many yellow warnings issued, but there's a different balance up here. We've issued separate yellow warnings for Scotland. There will be a bit of snow on higher ground, such as Slochd and Drumochter on the A9, but that is not the main hazard. "The greater concern is icy conditions," he said. Over the next few days there will be rain showers coming in from the north-west, which will wash away much of the salt on the roads, then freezing temperatures, which will cause icy conditions on the roads. News that the ski resorts are set for a boost has been welcomed by staff, where the season has been disappointing, leading some people to fear for their jobs. At the Cairngorms resort, where wind-chill temperatures were -25C yesterday, workers said this week could be "critical." "We are fairly limited at the moment, with only a handful of runs and the train open, so we could really use a big snowfall," said a spokesman. VisitScotland said snowsports generated £30 million a year for the rural economy and directly supported more than 600 jobs. However, it acknowledged the industry was "fragile."