The Forth Road Bridge has reopened after a lorry overturned in high winds causing travel chaos for Scots.

The crash happened as the country braced for a spell of severe weather, with 70mph winds and freezing temperatures forecast until Thursday.

The Currie European HGV toppled over onto the central reservation at around 2am on Wednesday, despite the bridge being closed to high-sided vehicles.

The 54-year-old driver has since been charged by police.

The crossing remained shut throughout the day while teams worked to remove the lorry and repair damage caused to around 40m of metal work.

The bridge reopened in both directions shortly after 9pm.

Transport Minister Humza Yousaf said: "Once again, the Forth Road Bridge team has stepped up to repair the bridge.

"They have successfully removed the overturned HGV and carried out temporary repair work to the damaged central reserve safety grille on the bridge.

"I would like to pay tribute to the engineers and workers who have faced up to some very challenging and difficult weather conditions throughout the day, to complete the work and get the bridge reopened as quickly and as safely as possible."

He added: "The closure of the bridge was the result of an HGV driver ignoring travel advice and restrictions for high sided vehicles using the bridge during a period of severe weather warnings. Thankfully no one was hurt in this incident, but a great deal of disruption has been caused."

Mark Arndt, of Amey, said: "It's been a challenging day but our team has put in a tremendous amount of effort to get the HGV off the bridge and complete the repair work while battling with strong winds, rain and sleet."

Meanwhile, weather warnings have been issued with thundersnow and 70mph winds expected to batter parts of Scotland.

A large area of the country is forecast to be hit with the extreme weather on Wednesday and into Thursday.

The Arctic blast is forecast to blow into the north west of Scotland from Canada before spreading across the country, bringing gale-force winds and snow.

There were also problems on the rail network, with severe disruption on the Glasgow - Paisley Canal line leading to ScotRail arranging for passengers to be taken to their destination in taxis.

The rail operator has amended some services for Thursday, and travellers are advised to check ahead.

The Met Office has issued Yellow weather warnings for the north of Scotland, the islands, Strathclyde, Tayside and Fife.

Temperatures are expected to plummet to as low as -10C and by Thursday around ten to 15cm of snow is forecast to fall in parts.

STV weather presenter Sean Batty said: "Over the next few days some of the showers may turn thundery, which could lead to a phenomenon known as thundersnow.

"This is where snow falls instead of rain during a thunderstorm. It's quite rare in most parts of Scotland but a bit more common across the Northern Isles.

"At the moment very cold air is travelling out of Arctic Canada and crossing the much warmer Atlantic."

He added: "This allows warmer air over the ocean to bubble up into the much colder air above and creates cumulonimbus clouds, which are also known as thunder clouds.

"These will spread in during Wednesday and Thursday and could lead to reports of thundersnow across the country."

On Wednesday evening, snow gates were closed on the A939 Cock Bridge - Tomintoul road.

Four hillwalkers also had to be rescued after getting stuck in severe weather on Ben Lomond.

Sean Batty said the wintry weather is not unusual for the time of year.

He said: "The upcoming cold spell is nothing out of the ordinary for January, however, it will come as a bit of a shock to the system after weeks of mild winter weather.

"This week temperatures started around 8C to 10C but by the end of the week highs will be 3C to 5C.

"Overnight temperatures could drop below -10C in parts of the Highlands where there is lying snow."

"The showers will start as rain but as the colder air comes in these will turn increasingly to sleet and snow by the evening."

He added: "There will also be a very strong and gusty wind, with gusts up to 70mph possible in the north and north west.

"The wind will give a significant wind chill. By Thursday morning some low lying areas away from the coast will have a few cm of lying snow, while 10-15cm may have accumulated over the hills.

"It will remain very windy on Thursday with frequent showers again affecting the north and west. The showers will be of snow in many western areas, although across the far north and north east some of the showers may turn more to rain as slightly less cold air feeds in for a time. The showers here will turn back to snow later.