STORM FORCE WARNING
As blizzard brings country to its knees 80mph winds sweep in for Hogmanay
‘Potential for danger to life’
HEAVY snow brought chaos to Scotland yesterday, closing one of the nation’s busiest airports and causing havoc on the roads.
But forecasters warned Scots of worse to come after predicting Storm Dylan will bring 80mph winds over Hogmanay.
The Met Office said the conditions could bring ‘a danger to life’ from flying debris.
Glasgow Airport was forced to shut yesterday after receiving four inches (10cm) of snow, causing waves of cancellations and diversions.
For two hours all flights in and out of the airport were cancelled as workers battled to clear the runway and taxi areas of the largest snowfall anywhere in the UK.
Meanwhile, temperatures fell as low as -12.3C at Loch Glascarnoch, in Ross-shire.
In Edinburgh, gritters scrambled to keep roads in and out of the city open to traffic as tens of thousands arrived for the Hogmanay celebrations.
RAC spokesman Pete Williams said it was ‘very, very busy across the UK’ yesterday morning as a result of the weather, and had been dealing with around one breakdown every ten seconds.
The AA said it had received more than 1,687 breakdown calls before 10am, with ten cases of vehicles being stuck in snow. In one of the worstaffected areas, Inverclyde, McGill’s Buses suspended all services as the roads were deemed too dangerous to drive on.
The A714 was also closed just north of Newton Stewart, in Wigtownshire, due to the volume of snow.
Police reported numerous accidents as snow and ice combined with the low winter sun to create treacherous driving conditions.
An elderly woman escaped serious injury after her car plunged off the road on to the beach at Drummore, in Wigtownshire, yesterday. Rescue crews were able to pull her from the wreckage of her car.
Coastguard controller Alex Smith said: ‘We don’t know what caused the accident but the vehicle ended up on the beach. The lady was taken to the hospital for a check-up but later released.’
Police were also called to a four-vehicle collision on the A711 near Beeswing, in Kirkcudbrightshire.
A crash on the M8 at junction 29 blocked two lanes and traffic was halted on the Erskine Bridge briefly due to another accident.
A lorry jackknifed on the A737 between Lochwinnoch and Brookfield in Renfrewshire. Another accident closed one lane of the M9 westbound after junction three at Burghmuir, Perthshire.
First Minister Nicola Sturgeon re-tweeted news that the A737 and A78 were ‘seeing the worst of the delays’.
The Scottish Government said that Transport Minister Humza Yousaf did not feel the need to convene a meeting of the emergency resilience committee.
ScotRail reported disruption caused by a broken down train at Rutherglen, affecting the Glasgow to Shotts and Lanark to Glasgow services.
A signalling fault at Craigendoran, in Dunbartonshire, interrupted services between Helensburgh and Glasgow and Edinburgh.
Winds gusting to 40mph also affected some of CalMac’s west coast ferry services.
Storm Dylan is due to make landfall tomorrow morning – with Edinburgh in its path. But organisers of the capital’s Hogmanay celebrations have
pledged the party will go ahead as planned.
The yellow ‘be aware’ weather warning for the Central Belt tomorrow states: ‘Some very strong winds are possible across Northern Ireland and then southern Scotland on New Year’s Eve.
‘There is a small chance of damage to buildings, such as tiles blown from roofs, with the potential for injuries and danger to life from flying debris.
‘Large waves and beach material being thrown onto coastal areas could also be a hazard.’
It adds that transport links and power supplies could be affected.
Nicky Maxey of the Met Office said: ‘As far as Storm Dylan is concerned on Sunday, there is still quite a bit of uncertainty about its direction.
‘It’s a windy start to New Year’s Eve, for sure. Towards the Bells, we will see things turn showery and breezy again. For First Footers, a waterproof will come in handy.’