Scotland's Weather: Girl, 14, crushed by ice fall as she clears path

A TEENAGE girl has suffered serious spinal injuries after being crushed when ice and snow fell from the roof of her home. Samantha Kinghorn had been clearing a path outside the cottage in the Scottish Borders when she was engulfed.

• Samantha Kinghorn is taken to the air ambulance for transfer to Glasgow Picture: Rob Fairburn

The 14-year-old was taken to Borders General Hospital from her home near Gordon, Berwickshire, then airlifted 70 miles to the Southern General Hospital in Glasgow yesterday, where doctors at the hospital's specialist spinal unit performed emergency surgery.

Samantha had been off school when the accident happened because of the wintry conditions which have caused havoc in many parts of Scotland and the UK. A hospital spokeswoman last night described Samantha's condition as "serious but stable".

It also emerged yesterday that two pensioners had been found dead in their gardens in separate incidents in Cumbria.

Police asked householders to watch out for their neighbours after the bodies of 84-year-old William Wilson and Lillian Jenkinson, 80, were discovered. While the heavy snows which hit much of Scotland show signs of abating over the weekend, forecasters warned that extreme cold would continue to cause serious difficulties.

Temperatures on Royal Deeside plunged to -20C on Thursday night, while the mercury fell to -13C in Edinburgh and -10C in Glasgow.

Underlining the serious nature of the conditions presented by one of the most severe early cold snaps since the Second World War, Scottish transport secretary Stewart Stevenson cancelled plans to travel to the United Nations climate change conference in Cancun next week as Arctic weather continued to cause major problems on the country's road and rail routes.