In Pictures: How the 2018 'Beast From The East' led to a whiteout in Kirkcaldy

Heavy snowfalls had the entire town shivering under a white blanket. Traffic chaos ensued, schools and places of work were closed and even food supplies began to run short.

The last day of February saw an amber alert changed to red at around midday. ScotRail immediately told commuters to “go home now”, amid rumours it would shut the network down completely. The buses were also now out of service. The Scottish Transport Secretary Humza Yousaf warned people not to travel, and that there was a risk to life.

Schools, council offices, museums, theatres, and colleges were closed, with little hope of seeing them re-open by the weekend. Roads across Fife became impassable, even on coastal routes where the salt air would normally kill off the snow.

Across the Kingdom cars were left abandoned as people attempted to walk home or find shelter nearby. Whole towns were cut off, the snow even settled on the beaches, and on Thursday morning Fifers woke to deep snow drifts, four-feet high and more in some places, with even main roads too treacherous to attempt.

Few places were open for business, as staff struggled to even get out of the house in many cases. Transport was largely out of order, meaning most people would have to walk miles through the snow just to reach work. Of the shops that were able to remain open, many in small towns cut off by the deep snow drifts were reporting low stocks of fresh goods like milk, bread, fruit, veg, and meat.