The wrath of Hector
Woman fighting for life as storm causes chaos across country
A WOMAN was fighting for her life last night after being hit by a roof tile as Storm Hector battered Scotland.
The female in her forties was taken to hospital after she was struck in Edinburgh yesterday morning.
Emergency services were called to the scene on Dalry Road around 9.40am. Last night she was said to be in a ‘critical’ condition.
A Police Scotland spokesman said: ‘Police were called following reports a person had been hit by falling masonry. A female in her forties was taken to Edinburgh Royal Infirmary by the Scottish Ambulance Service. Inquiries into the full circumstances are ongoing.’
A local resident said: ‘I heard a commotion, looked out of the window and saw the lady lying there, with a few people around her. The slate has obviously just fallen off and hit the poor woman.’
Elsewhere, Storm Hector – which forecasters said was a once-in-a-decade event – resulted in the closure of bridges, cancelled ferries and caused chaos on the rail network.
Roads were also badly affected as fallen trees and other debris brought traffic to a standstill.
The strongest gust of wind recorded in Scotland was at Drumalbin, near Lanark, at 63mph. But Orlock Head in Northern Ireland saw the highest wind in the UK, at 74mph.
The Forth Road Bridge and the Tay Bridge were closed to all traffic.
Rail services were among the worst affected, with trains halted due to multiple incidents of fallen trees on the line and huge waves overlapping sea walls in Ayrshire.
ScotRail said ‘chainsaw gangs’ and overhead line teams were deployed across the network to remove fallen trees and branches that caused delays and cancellations.
Services were delayed for a short time between Inverness and Wick after a trampoline blew on to the line at Helmsdale, Sutherland.
A Network Rail spokesman said: ‘Our engineers are working as quickly as they can to repair the significant damage Storm Hector has caused to our infrastructure in Glasgow and across the West coast.
‘High winds and fallen trees have damaged overhead power lines at a number of locations across the country. Engineers are dealing with several significant incidents, including at Saltcoats on the Ayrshire coast and at Dalreoch and Partick on the North Clyde Line.’
Transport Minister Humza Yousaf tweeted: ‘As predicted, a fair bit of travel disruption due to high winds as Storm Hector makes his presence felt – particularly on ferries & rail.’
Skye saw 5in of rainfall in 24 hours, with the
average for the whole of June on the island only 3.3in.
Despite a sophisticated wind protection system, the new £1.9billion Queensferry Crossing near Edinburgh was closed to double-decker buses.
The Erskine Bridge was closed to highsided traffic, along with the Friarton Bridge in Perthshire, and the Dornoch Bridge in Ross-shire.
Trees and other debris was left strewn across main roads in Glasgow and Edinburgh, while the A1 in East Lothian was closed after an HGV overturned between Dunbar and Haddington.
Some 8,000 children were left disappointed when a major outdoor Mass was called off due to safety concerns at Falkirk Stadium.
Pupils had travelled from all over the country for the National Schools Mass, to be attended by Education Secretary John Swinney.
Ferry operator Caledonian MacBrayne said the South Uist service from Mallaig to Lochboisdale, South Uist, was cancelled and there were no services to Tiree. There were also cancellations on the Skye crossing, the Gigha service and sailings to Arran.
Due to the strong winds, storm surge and tidal conditions, a flood alert was issued for the Loch Ryan area near Stranraer, Wigtownshire, and along the Solway Firth.
Met Office spokesman Nicky Maxey said: ‘This has been a very unusual event for June. It was a deep area of low pressure moving across Northern Ireland towards Scotland, bringing strong winds. We knew the impact would be different due to the time of year.
‘You have to go back to 1984 to find a June wind in excess of 74mph. We have a real likelihood we have seen a gust of wind in Scotland which is the strongest in more than 30 years.’
The Scottish Environment Protection Agency issued a number of flood warnings, including Ayr to Troon, around Dumfries and Galloway and Orkney.