Banff, Macduff and district Community Planning

12/01/2026

Final update (Monday 12th January) from Aberdeenshire Council, following the recent period of adverse weather

As recovery efforts continue across Aberdeenshire, and with council services returning to regular operation, this will be our final bulletin about the recent severe weather. Service messaging will resume on our website and social media channels as usual.

⚠️ Warnings

A yellow warning for ice across Aberdeenshire and much of Scotland is in place from 7pm tonight (Mon) until 10am tomorrow, so please take care if travelling.

The majority of our priority routes are being gritted this evening, with teams on standby to take further action if required.

Work is continuing to refill grit bins that remain part of Aberdeenshire Council’s network as can be seen on the map on this page https://www.aberdeenshire.gov.uk/roads-and-travel/roads/winter-maintenance/grit-bin/grit-bin-removals
Please note that grit bins shown as red dots do not meet the council’s criteria and are not being refilled.

By visiting Fix My Street you can see where there is an existing request for a grit bin refill. Remember, the grit bins should be used to treat roads and pathways, not private driveways.

Visit Fix My Street here https://fix.aberdeenshire.gov.uk/

♻️ Bins and Waste

All scheduled collections of bins were attempted today, and residents should return to taking bins out in line with normal schedules. Excess waste will be accepted as outlined below.

With conditions now improving and waste teams no longer redeployed, we are looking at our options and resources for mop-ups and catchups of missed collections—in addition to anything ad hoc—as this week goes on. This plan will be communicated in due course across all our channels, so please allow our contact centre to focus on other urgent calls.

A reminder that, if your bin was missed due to adverse weather, you can put extra out alongside that same bin on its next scheduled collection day. Extra/side recycling or waste must match the bin being collected that day. Extra recycling or waste can be presented as follows:

⬛ The black lid bin (non-recyclable materials) in additional black bin bags—please double-bag if necessary to prevent splits.
🟦 The blue lid bin (paper, card, and cardboard only) in cardboard boxes. Please try to keep them clean and dry.
🟧 The orange lid bin (metal tins, cans, aerosols and foil, food and drink cartons, plastic bottles, pots, tubs, and trays) in see-through plastic bags so that the crews can clearly see the contents.

🌊 Flood alerts are in place for Aberdeenshire, and felled trees and icy conditions continue to create hazards on some roads. We have flooding issues at one of our waste transfer stations which may hamper some collection efforts this week.

We will accept food waste for recycling at Macduff, Ellon, Inverurie, Stonehaven and Banchory household recycling centres temporarily from today.

Household recycling centres are operating as usual, with Alford household recycling centre open for its additional days tomorrow (Tue, Jan 13) and Wednesday (Jan 14).

During the peak of activity, waste crews and other council staff were redeployed to snow clearance, supporting the council’s existing roads team, along with 170 farmers and contractors bought in by the council to add important capacity. Now, we are back with full focus on waste and recycling. Clearing a backlog of this size is a significant task. Our teams are working extra hard to get things back to normal, and we appreciate your continued support and patience as we plan for and begin to catchup on missed bins.

♻️ We ask that all visitors to our household recycling centres check the website prior to travelling in case of a change in opening times, a need to book, a closure, to see what can be recycled, and the type of vehicles that are welcomed. When visiting, please arrive early enough to unload the vehicle before the lunchtime or end-of-day close.

Booking is required for all vehicles visiting Inverurie and Westhill household recycling centres. Only commercial-type vehicles and vehicles with a trailer must book at all other recycling centres.

If you do need to book, please arrive on time as entry may be refused to anyone arriving outside of their given time slot.

🌊 Flooding issues

A SEPA flood alert remains in in place for Aberdeenshire, with surface water expected on roads, and some areas like Portlethen, South Deeside Road, and parts of Peterhead posing challenges.

Remember, it is your responsibility to take actions which help protect yourself and your property. If you live in a known flooding area, please ensure you sign-up now for alerts from SEPA call the Floodline on 0345 988 1188 or visit https://floodline.sepa.org.uk/floodupdates/

🏫 Schools

The majority of our schools are open again and each school is speaking to their community directly.

Decisions on school openings are back to being made locally by each school. You can view the latest decisions on our website from 4pm before any given school day: https://online.aberdeenshire.gov.uk/school-closures

☎️ Contact and help

All of the numbers you might need and important contact details are on our website, so please head there first: https://www.aberdeenshire.gov.uk/communities-and-events/safety-and-emergencies/weather-emergencies

12/01/2026

Yellow warning for ice this evening; Morning update from Aberdeenshire Council on latest regarding weather impacts

Whilst the council has stepped down from its major incident status last night, teams continue to co-ordinate local activity and ensure our communities are supported. There are still a few things to watch out for as we move into Monday.

⚠Warnings

Temperatures are expected to drop overnight, so watch out for ice. There is a yellow warning for ice in place overnight, in itself not unusual for this time of year.

Our gritter teams will be deployed later today but drivers are asked to drive to the conditions. There is extensive flooding on our network and with the temperatures expected to drop, conditions could be tricky.

Because of the drop in temps, teams are restocking the grit bins which meet our criteria - shown on this map https://app.powerbi.com/view?r=eyJrIjoiYTc4NDAzODMtOGFlYS00ZmQwLTliNTItOWFlZDJkODFlNDE4IiwidCI6ImZlZDk5MzA2LTRkMmQtNDQwOS05NTlkLWQwZWRiNzMwNGEwYiJ9&pageName=df9dc46855a2a61082e4&fbclid=IwY2xjawLU7uBleHRuA2FlbQIxMQABHjhcTTbvfORM2SRuLYdaLchYDaKsWfUeF19sjAF5DuBBtZKe5VJ__6DQkDKN_aem_gTLZUmr1Riiy7LRqYuOrkA (grit bins shown as red dots do not meet the criteria and are not being refilled by the Council).

We are working quickly to refill them asap, with the focus on the ones where people have made a refill request first.

If you go onto Fix My Street you can see where there is an existing request for a grit bin refill. Remember, the grit bins should be used to treat roads and pathways, not private driveways. https://fix.aberdeenshire.gov.uk/around?lat=57.30906&lon=-2.35225&js=1&zoom=0&filter_category=Other(WinterMaintenance)&sort=created-desc&status=open,closed,fixed

👉Flooding issues

A SEPA flood alert is in place for Aberdeenshire so please do take extra care when you are moving around today. There is expected to be as lot of surface water on roads, and some areas like Portlethen, South Deeside Road, and parts of Peterhead are posing challenges. Any closures are being posted here.

Remember, it is your responsibility to take actions which help protect yourself and your property. If you live in a known flooding area, please ensure you sign-up now for alerts from SEPA call the Floodline on 0345 988 1188 or visit https://floodline.sepa.org.uk/floodupdates/

👉Bins and Waste

All the routes which we would normally pick up on a Monday are being attempted today, so if your waste collection is a Monday, please put out your scheduled bin today.

That assumption stands for the rest of the week, so please return to taking your bins out where you can, in line with the normal schedule. All our Household Recycling Centres are open as normal. Note, Alford and Insch HRCs are putting extra hours or days in to help with the backlog.

We are finalising the plan to catch up on missed collections. We expect to be in a position to set out the plan for how we will address the backlog shortly and this will be communicated widely through our normal channels.

👉Schools

The majority of our schools are open again today and each school is speaking to their community directly.

Decisions on school openings are back to being made locally by each school. You can view the latest decisions on our website from 4pm before any given school day: https://online.aberdeenshire.gov.uk/school-closures

👉Contact and help

All of the numbers you might need and important contact details are on our website, so please head there first: https://www.aberdeenshire.gov.uk/communities-and-events/safety-and-emergencies/weather-emergencies

12/01/2026

Update on waste and recycling centre opening hours

All household recycling centres due to open today are. All scheduled collections of bins will be attempted today. That assumption stands for the rest of the week, so please return to taking your bins out, where you can, in line with your normal schedule.

With conditions now improving and waste teams no longer redeployed, we are looking at our options and resources for mop-ups and catchups of missed collections—in addition to anything ad hoc—as this week goes on. This plan will be communicated in due course across all our channels, so please allow our contact centre to focus on other urgent calls.

A reminder that, if your bin was missed due to adverse weather, you can put extra out alongside that same bin on its next scheduled collection day. Extra/side recycling or waste must match the bin being collected that day. Extra recycling or waste can be presented as follows:

⬛ The black lid bin (non-recyclable materials) in additional black bin bags—please double-bag if necessary to prevent splits.
🟦 The blue lid bin (paper, card, and cardboard only) in cardboard boxes. Please try to keep them clean and dry.
🟧 The orange lid bin (metal tins, cans, aerosols and foil, food and drink cartons, plastic bottles, pots, tubs and trays) in see-through plastic bags so that the crews can clearly see the contents.

🌊 Flood alerts are in place for Aberdeenshire, and felled trees and icy conditions continue to create hazards on some roads. We have flooding issues at one of our waste transfer stations which may hamper some collection efforts this week.

We will accept food waste for recycling at Macduff, Ellon, Inverurie, Stonehaven and Banchory household recycling centres temporarily from today.

Insch household recycling centre is open for its additional opening day today, Monday 12 January, and Alford household recycling centre will be open for its additional days on Tuesday 13 and Wednesday 14 January.

During the peak of activity, waste crews and other council staff were redeployed to snow clearance, supporting the council’s existing roads team, along with 170 farmers and contractors bought in by the council to add important capacity. Now, we are back with full focus on waste and recycling. Clearing a backlog of this size is a significant task. Our teams are working extra hard to get things back to normal, and we appreciate your continued support and patience as we plan for and begin to catchup on missed bins.

♻️ We ask that all visitors to our household recycling centres check the website prior to travelling in case of a change in opening times, a need to book, a closure, to see what can be recycled, and the type of vehicles that are welcomed. When visiting, please arrive early enough to unload the vehicle before the lunchtime or end-of-day close.

Booking is required for all vehicles visiting Inverurie and Westhill household recycling centres. Only commercial-type vehicles and vehicles with a trailer must book at all other recycling centres.

If you do need to book, please arrive on time as entry may be refused to anyone arriving outside of their given time slot.

The relevant links for more information can be found in our profile bio.

11/01/2026

Aberdeenshire Council confirm 'Major Incident' status no longer in effect.

Aberdeenshire Council has taken the decision to end its ‘major incident’, which it stood up last Tuesday as a result of major snowfall affecting all parts of Aberdeenshire, but the Council remains alert to the on-going needs of communities in a heightened state of emergency response.

The decision to declare a major incident, largely an administrative action, allowed the Council to redeploy resources to focus on supporting communities, predominantly through restoring connectivity, supporting particularly vulnerable individuals and warning and informing people to prepare and respond to the emerging weather conditions.

During the peak of activity, waste crews and other Council staff were redeployed to snow clearance, supporting the council’s existing roads team, along with 170 farmers and contractors bought in by the Council to add important capacity. Major snow clearing equipment was received from Amey as part of a mutual aid request, along with a snow cutter from Tayside Contracts and other smaller snow clearing kit also being brought in from other councils who have been less affected by the current weather conditions. A Care for People Group focused on ensuring the most vulnerable people in our communities were safe and supported, and that activity will continue, working alongside families, carers and neighbours as we return to business as usual.

With many schools and health care services expected to reopen on Monday, the Council feels the worst of the impacts are now over. Whilst the major incident has now been brought to an end, the Council is still supporting an emergency response in terms of the level of additional activity still underway, with more staff redeployed to clear paths, fire exits and car parks around schools, care homes, very sheltered and sheltered housing complexes to enable them to operate safely. Council activity will begin to move towards business as usual through this week, with a focus on getting on top of waste collections which have been severely impacted since Hogmanay.

Warnings are also in place from the Met Office and SEPA for snow melt and high winds. Property owners are responsible for the protection of their own property, and action is essential to reduce the risk of damage.

Chief Executive, Jim Savege explained the reason for moving away from a major incident at this time. “We have responded to five amber weather warnings in very quick succession, resulting in snowfall, freezing temperatures and a prolonged period of winter weather. What we have experienced over the past 2 weeks has far exceeded what we would consider as part of our routine winter maintenance programme and it has required an extraordinary effort from the Council, our partners, farmers, contractors, communities and individuals. As ever, our residents have shown remarkable resilience and have supported each other throughout this period. The declaration of a major incident supports us in reallocating resources to where the need is greatest, along with making mutual aid requests to other agencies and councils.

“Whilst we have stood down our major incident, we are still very conscious that there is more to do before we are back to normal. There is a significant risk of flooding on our networks as the snow melts, and there is a forecast for more snow, rain and high winds – all this means the Council will continue to work with a heightened state of emergency response. But with all communities now reconnected through our main roads network, and good progress on clearing smaller routes and opening access to our smallest settlements, we have returned the snow clearing kit to Amey and others. The focus now moves onto the use of smaller machinery better suited to clearing residential streets and pavements.

“Our winter maintenance arrangements remain in place and we will continue to deploy our extensive fleet of road and pavement gritters in response to emerging weather conditions, including activating contracted assistance from our network of Farmer and Agri Contractor ploughs, particularly as we anticipate more snow, rain and high winds in the coming week.

“Our most sincere thanks go to everyone for their perseverance and support over the last few weeks, the response and community resilience to this weather has been, and continues to be, truly a team effort.”

11/01/2026

Good luck to everyone starting their prelims on Monday! You've got this! 💪✨

11/01/2026

11/01/2026

🟢SCHOOL OPEN AS NORMAL🟢
Monday 12th January 2026

As per the email sent out on Friday, Whitehills School plans to open as normal tomorrow for all pupils and staff. The school will communicate with parents should this or school transport arrangements change.

Pupils should come to school with appropriate clothing for the weather conditions.

11/01/2026

Evening update time, the latest from Aberdeenshire Council (Sunday evening)

Weather update Sunday 11 January, evening

🌊 Flooding

There is a SEPA flood alert in place for Aberdeenshire. We are seeing a lot of surface water issues as the snow starts melting. Please, if you are out and about take extra care, look for surface water on the roads, and take steps now. Remember, it is your responsibility to take actions which help protect yourself and your property. If you live in a known flooding area, please ensure you sign-up now for alerts from SEPA call the Floodline on 0345 988 1188 or visit http://floodline.sepa.org.uk/floodupdates

While we continue to monitor conditions and respond where possible, extreme weather events create pressures that no drainage network can fully prevent.

🛣️ Roads

Our teams will be assessing local conditions early tomorrow morning to determine footpath and secondary routes which may still need treatment. They are working hard across all of our communities to manage flooding issues as well as the treatment. Please use FixMyStreet here to report ongoing snow related problems, flooding issues and trees down while including a photo of the issue where possible: https://fix.aberdeenshire.gov.uk/

♻️ Waste and recycling

A reminder that we can only confirm which scheduled routes are being attempted on the morning of collection day. We ask that you don't call our contact centre colleagues to ask about bin collections as they won't have that information. As the conditions improve, we will look at a larger scale catch-up programme which will be shared.

All of our Household Recycling Centres are due to open as normal tomorrow. Insch will open on Monday, and the Alford centre will run additional days on Tuesday and Wednesday this week.

🏫 Schools

Individual schools are posting any closures on our website. Please check that page to get updates and keep an eye out for Groupcall, or emails: https://online.aberdeenshire.gov.uk/school-closures . As a rule, schools post on the website when they are closing. So, if your school isn't listed, it can be assumed it will open. Some today have begun posting with opening information.

☎️ Contact and help

All of the numbers you might need and important contact details are on our website, so please head there first: https://www.aberdeenshire.gov.uk/communities-and-events/safety-and-emergencies/weather-emergencies

11/01/2026

Aberdeenshire Council has issued a further update (Sunday morning) regarding the ongoing adverse weather situation

Yellow weather warnings are in place across Aberdeenshire for rain, wind, snow and ice. An amber weather warning for snowfall in parts of Aberdeenshire ended at 11am today.

Our teams are working towards restoring access to a wide range of council services as we approach the start of a new week and we have extensive contractor assistance with our efforts to clear snow and ice. This effort will continue today, particularly on higher ground.

SSEN has begun to report power outages in limited areas of Aberdeenshire via its Power Track monitoring system, which are being responded to quickly by SSEN engineers. Power outages remain a risk and can be reported to SSEN by calling 105.

SSEN’s Power Track can be viewed here: https://powertrack.ssen.co.uk/powertrack

Scottish Water are investigating reports of supply loss in Peterhead and are on site working to identify and resolve the issue as quickly as possible.

If you require immediate additional support from Scottish Water due to supply loss, they can be contacted via 0800 0778 778.

☎️ Weekend contact

Over the weekend, Aberdeenshire Council’s contact centre will remain open from 9am to 5pm, for urgent issues only. If you are in a crisis due to the continued weather conditions and have no alternative support, you can contact us on 0345 608 1208.

📱 Emergency contacts

Out of hours emergency contacts will remain active as usual over the weekend as follows:

• Housing repairs: 0345 08 12 03
• Issues with other buildings (such as town halls, schools, libraries, public toilets, or leisure centres): 0800 954 3576
• Homelessness: 03456 08 12 06
• Social care: 03456 08 12 06

Details for contacting the council with routine and non-urgent enquiries can be found at www.aberdeenshire.gov.uk/contact-us/contact-customer-services

🛣️ Roads

Please use our ‘Fix My Street’ system to report downed trees or flooding on roads. Adding a photo really helps to support our understanding of the situation. Fix My Street assists us to triage requests and assign teams to the right locations on a priority basis.

Report downed trees or flooding on roads via Fix My Street here https://fix.aberdeenshire.gov.uk/

Please be aware that, with the strong winds, downed trees could obstruct roads and cause hazards for road users. Snowmelt can also create hazardous conditions on other roads with widespread surface water pooling. There may be a risk of aquaplaning and loss of vehicle control for drivers and slippery conditions for other road users and pedestrians.

General advice for road users remains:
❄️ Plan ahead and avoid unnecessary travel
❄️ All road users should consider if they really need to travel during adverse weather.
❄️ Consider delaying travel until conditions improve
❄️ If you are travelling on the roads, prepare yourself and your vehicle for the conditions
❄️ Ensure your mobile phone is charged and plan your journey, including an alternative route
❄️ Have sufficient fuel, warm clothing, food and water in case you’re delayed

In the Winter folder of the myAberdeenshire app, view live feeds from snow gates and details of gritter routes and gritter vehicles’ status. Our gritter route list is colour-coded accessibility and to show the status of gritter routes and snow gates.

At the time of writing, snow gates to Glenshee and Lecht were closed due to snow and drifting.

Details of gritting routes can also be found on our website: https://www.aberdeenshire.gov.uk/roads-and-travel/roads/winter-maintenance/gritting-routes/

📸 Support us with images showing the levels of snow on our roads

To assist with our level of understanding of the level of snow in each and every road/street in Aberdeenshire our road-snow images portal allows residents to upload photos of the current snow levels on roads at their location.

This crowd-sourced data is already helping our teams direct resources where they are most needed over the next few days to clear snow. Residents can submit up to five photos of local road conditions via the council website as follows:

👉 Visit http://www.aberdeenshire.gov.uk/snowimages
👉 Select your location by zooming into the map and clicking once
👉 Once you have found your location, click ‘Next’
👉 Adjust the time and date the photos were taken if necessary
👉 Upload your photos

No personal data is gathered through the system, and images will not be shared publicly, but they will be very helpful to roads teams as work to reopen local roads continues. Thanks in advance for your help.

♻️ Waste and Recycling

Household recycling centres in Banchory, Westhill, Alford, Ellon, Inverurie, Peterhead, Fraserburgh, Huntly, Turriff, Portsoy (extra opening day), Macduff, Laurencekirk, and Stonehaven are open today.

Wind is the main factor today at our household recycling centres. We will monitor the situation throughout the day in case any of the listed sites need to close.

Should the strong winds in Portlethen calm, we may be able to open later in the day. We will monitor and update should that be the case.

A reminder that, to help residents manage extra waste and recycling during this adverse weather event, we are also able to open Alford and Insch household recycling centres for some additional days next week.

These extra sessions are intended for those who are safely able to travel given the current snow conditions. Please check your local road conditions before travelling.

Alford household recycling centre additional days on Tuesday 13 and Wednesday 14 January.
🕛 9am to 12pm
🕛 12pm to 12.30pm - pedestrian access only
🕛 12.30pm to 1pm - closed
🕛 1pm to 4.30pm

Insch household recycling centre additional day Monday 12 January.
🕛 9am to 12pm
🕛 12pm to 12.30pm - pedestrian access only
🕛 12.30pm to 1pm - closed
🕛 1pm to 4.30pm

We have delayed the start of bulky collections for the year to redeploy that resource elsewhere.

Your continued patience and understanding are greatly appreciated as we work through the impacts from this significant weather event. As conditions improve, we will look at a larger scale catchup of collections missed. Details of this will be shared in due course.

In this weather, to ensure the safety of our collection crews and your property, we can only confirm which scheduled routes are being attempted on the morning of the collection day. As such, please avoid calling the contact centre for updates on bins today (Sunday) and this will support them to service any urgent queries.

🏫 Schools

Decisions on school openings are back to being made locally by each school. You can view the latest decisions on our website from 4pm before any given school day: https://online.aberdeenshire.gov.uk/school-closures

👉 General advice

For more information and to access local preparedness resources, visit https://publications.aberdeenshire.gov.uk/winter-weather-advice

Stay informed—follow trusted sources like council websites and social media channels for updates and advice:

• MET OFFICE: https://www.metoffice.gov.uk/
• SEPA: https://www.sepa.org.uk/
• SSEN: https://powertrack.ssen.co.uk/powertrack

If you live in a known flooding area, please ensure you sign-up now for alerts from SEPA call the Floodline on 0345 988 1188 or visit http://floodline.sepa.org.uk/floodupdates

11/01/2026

Travel advisory from Police Scotland

11/01/2026

Police Scotland Youth Volunteers recruitment day information 👇

‼️ Police Scotland Youth Volunteers (PSYV) Recruitment Open Day – North Aberdeenshire (Mintlaw) ‼️

Are you or someone you know looking for confidence, challenge, teamwork, and real life skills? 💪✨ then come along and see what PSYV is all about!

We’re recruiting:
👉 Youths aged 13–15
👉 Adult volunteers aged 18+

📅 Saturday 24th January 2026
🕰️ 1030– 1430 hours
📍 Games Hall (opposite reception), MACBI Community Hub, Mintlaw

👮‍♂️ PSYV will be running information sessions on the day, giving you the chance to:
✅ Learn exactly what PSYV is
✅ Find out how it links with policing
✅ Ask questions and chat with our team

💬 Know a young person who would benefit from PSYV?
👍 An adult who wants to support and inspire others?
👉 Tag them below and share this post!

📧 northeastpsyv@scotland.police.uk (check junk mail for replies)