Oh Diana, what a storm

More on way after country lashed by wind and heavy rain

STORM Diana will continue to batter Scotland today after causing widespread flooding and travel chaos yesterday.

And the country could face even more extreme conditions with winds up to 80mph possible in exposed areas of the South.

A yellow ‘be aware’ alert for the South-west and Lothian and Borders warns of a ‘danger to life’.

Storm Diana left a trail of destruction in its wake after heavy winds and rain lashed the country yesterday. The Met Office recorded a 102mph gust at the summit of Cairn Gorm.

CalMac ferries were confined to port as 61mph winds battered outlying islands.

Train services in Ayrshire were disrupted and ScotRail was forced to suspend service to Largs and Ardrossan Harbour because of high waves swamping sea walls, with trains ending their journeys at Kilwinning.

During the evening rush hour, the A78 coast road south of Wemyss Bay at Skelmorlie was closed due to flooding.

By last night, the Scottish Environment Protection Agency had issued ten flood alerts and 26 more serious flood warnings in the worst affected areas.

Queues of traffic built up on coastal roads on Arran last night as floods rose to ‘knee deep’ in places.

Police in South Argyll said that roads along the shore front in Dunoon were badly affected by the rain and high waves.

The storm also caused problems across Dumfries and Galloway, with trees blown onto roads.

Along the Solway coast many towns and villages were affected by floodwater. At Rockcliffe, near Dalbeattie, Kirkcudbrightshire, high seas flooded the front. Some children were ‘dicing with death’ as they played near the waves.

In Dumfriesshire, the A76 was closed after a boulder crashed onto the road between Thornhill and Closeburn.

Major bridges faced temporary speed limits and restrictions on high-sided vehicles.

Motorists on the Forth Road Bridge were urged to use caution due to the high winds. Meanwhile, Argyll Ferries suspended the crossing from Gourock to Dunoon.

Met Office forecaster Becky Mitchell said: ‘Things really began to kick off in Scotland mid-afternoon. Winds from the south-west began to strengthen, resulting in a gust at West Freugh in Wigtownshire of 61mph.

‘There is a lot of uncertainty about the strength of the winds on Thursday. The Borders will see the highest wind speeds, probably during late morning or early afternoon. There looks to be a chance of 50 to 60mph winds, with a possibility you could see 70mph.

‘However, there is also a low chance that these could hit 80mph in remote spots.’

All but one of CalMac’s 27 West Coast services faced delay or cancellation yesterday.

Disruption could continue today and into Friday because of a succession of weather fronts coming in from the Atlantic.