CHAOS ON THE BRANCH LINE
FIFE Rail services cancelled after train hits bough as Ophelia storms past GLASGOW
scene of the tenement collapse in Crosshill at around 4am yesterday after neighbours were woken by the noise. No one was injured.
The privately owned tenement flats were vacated more than a year ago after the building was deemed unsafe.
Debris from the building fell inside an exclusion zone set up after the evacuation.
In Dumfries and Galloway, police said they had a “busy night”.
The roof of a Scout hut was blown off in Castle Douglas and more than 1000 properties in the region lost power. There were no reports of any injuries but a number of west coast ferry services were also cancelled.
A police spokesman said: “In particular, calls relating to fallen trees blocking roads were prevalent.
“At this time, all major routes through the region are open. Police Scotland urge those heading out to work or on other business to still drive with care.
“A number of calls were received relating to structural damage across the region, such as roofs being blown off and scaffolding collapsing. Communities are asked to check on the welfare of vulnerable neighbours, where safe to do so.”
Flood alerts were in place for west central Scotland, Ayrshire and Arran, Argyll and Bute and Dumfries and Galloway.
In Ireland, three people were killed and schools on both sides of the border remained closed for a second day as authorities began to assess the damage.
Fintan Goss, 33, died in Dundalk, County Louth, when a car he was in was hit by a tree.
In Cahir, County Tipperary, a 31-yearold named locally as Michael Pyke was killed in a chainsaw accident as he tried to clear a tree downed by the wind.
And former nurse Clare O’Neill, 58, died when a tree fell on her car near Aglish village, County Waterford. ● Another Atlantic storm – Brian – is set to hit Scotland this weekend, bringing gale-force gusts and torrential rain to many areas.
A spokesman for The Weather Channel said: “A further deep area of low pressure is forecast to track into the Irish Sea, with anti-clockwise winds.There will be widespread heavy rain in Scotland.”