Pupils hurt as coach crashes in Scotland

A group of schoolchildren were seriously injured in a coach crash as severe winter storms battered the UK – just four days after the start of British Summer Time.

The teenagers, on a school trip to Alton Towers, were hurt when their bus left the road in treacherous conditions at Wiston, near Biggar, in South Lanarkshire.

Four children were seriously injured and another eight suffered minor injuries after the coach drove into water on the A73 shortly after 6am.

Meanwhile up to 48,000 homes were left without power as blizzards, gale force winds and torrential rain hit Scotland and the North, knocking down power lines and causing widespread transport havoc.

Around 300 people – including another group of children on a school bus – had to be rescued from vehicles trapped in snow overnight on the Glenshane Pass near Derry.

Police, mountain rescue and coastguards were drafted in for the operation.

A Strathclyde Police spokesman said the cause of the South Lanarkshire crash is still being investigated but described driving conditions in the area as “horrendous”.

The pupils were from Lanark Grammar School in South Lanarkshire, police said.

There were six adults and 33 children on board when the bus came off the road.

Strathclyde Fire and Rescue and the ambulance service attended the scene and treated casualties.

A spokesman for the ambulance service said casualties had been taken to Wishaw General Hospital, while those with minor injuries were being assessed at the scene.