A large number of drivers have suffered damage to their vehicles, including tyre blow-outs, as winter weather has caused potholes to appear in roads maintained both by local councils and the road and coastal administration. Repairs are underway, but conditions are still bumpy, as heavy snow has turned to ice, and then to rushing meltwater on several occasions. Such conditions are notoriously damaging to road surfaces.

Starting Thursday, the Department of Transportation will begin repairing Chief Eddie Hoffman Highway. The warm winter has wreaked similar havoc on highways across Alaska.

The past three winters have been particularly hard on road pavements. Wet winters with temperatures fluctuating on both sides of the freezing point have damaged even relatively fresh asphalt, leading to cracks, potholes and deep ruts.

The rutted stretch between Portree and north-west Skye has numerous potholes due to cold and wet weather.

"Roads are actually getting worse in the springtime than they were even [a few] years ago. In a perfect world, we'd be able to re-engineer all of our roads and get them paved. It's going to be a long-term process to get there." say Deputy Mayor Kyle Sheppard.