Late winter storm hits Scotland

A late winter storm in Scotland dropped almost a foot of snow on parts of the country Tuesday. At least 11,000 homes and businesses were without electrical power for all or part of the day, The Scotsman reported. Scottish Hydro said while 6,000 were still in the dark by late afternoon it expected to have everyone restored by Wednesday. The company said the major problem was downed lines due to heavy snow and falling branches. Transport Minister Keith Brown pointed out snow is more normal for Scotland in April than the warm weather the country enjoyed in late March. "Snow is not necessarily unusual in April, and our winter maintenance season runs until the middle of May for good reason," he said. Minor crashes were common on the roadways. A group of three men and six teenagers from Belgium were rescued Tuesday in the Cairngorms. They spent a night camped in the foothills of Ben Macdui before a rescue helicopter from the Royal Air Force base at Prestwick reached them. Chief Inspector Andy Todd, mountain rescue coordinator for Grampian Police, said the group acted sensibly. He said they could have run into avalanches or other trouble if they had tried to walk out Monday. "The location they sent was bang on. We told them they were safe where they were and not to move," he said. "They did the right thing. And they are all none the worse -- no frostnip or anything like that."