GONE WITH THE WIND
Gales and torrential rain disrupt road, rail and ferry links with fears worse flooding to come
GALE-FORCE winds of up to 70mph battered scotland yesterday, causing travel chaos and ripping the roof off a building.
Torrential rain also affected train, ferry and road journeys, as network rail sent divers to check the stability of bridges.
The line between Glasgow and Inverness was shut, while electric train services were suspended in Ayrshire due to high waves crashing over the track in coastal areas.
The risk for 60mph gusts closed the Forth and Tay bridges to double-decker buses, while the roof of a tenement was blown off in Leith, edinburgh, around 1pm.
The scottish environment Protection Agency had 24 flood alerts and warnings in
‘Some communities could be cut off’
place, while the Met Office had issued rain warnings across the country, with stirlingshire, Perthshire and large parts of the south and south-West expected to be particularly badly hit.
Amber warnings for these areas predicted up to five inches of rain in 36 hours. Those alerts expired at 6am today but the yellow rain warning for the whole of the country lasts until 11am.
Forecaster Alex deakin of the Met Office warned: ‘The main focus into the early hours will be the continued rainfall across parts of the south.
‘We have amber warnings in place, with the threat that some communities could be cut off.’
drivers faced difficult conditions on the roads, with rain whipped up by the strong winds. The highest gust, of 70mph, was recorded at Prestwick, Ayrshire.
In Argyll, the A83 and its diversionary route, the Old Military road, were both closed due to the risk of landslides.
Motorists faced a 60-mile diversion via the A82, A85 and A819.
Yesterday, eddie ross of BeAr scotland said: ‘Teams remain on site working in challenging conditions to monitor the hillside.’
He said a decision on reopening the route was due to be taken around 9am today. elsewhere, the main rail line between Inverness and Glasgow was blocked in Perthshire after water levels rose by 3ft under two bridges between Perth and Pitlochry. services were halted on Monday as a precaution and network rail called in divers to carry out safety checks.
A spokesman said: ‘We need to monitor the impact of high water on the [bridge] foundations.’
scotrail withdrew trains between Kilwinning, Ardrossan and West Kilbride in Ayrshire due to waves crashing over the tracks, while rail services between Glasgow Central and east Kilbride, Lanarkshire, were halted after a tree crashed onto the line between Busby and Hairmyres.
CalMac axed West Coast sailings between Ardrossan and Brodick, Oban to Barra, Wemyss Bay to rothesay, uig to Lochmaddy and Mallaig to Armadale. services today are likely to disrupted, too, as the high winds persist.
Oliver Claydon of the Met Office said things will start to dry up this afternoon and by the weekend there will be ‘a hint of spring’.