The Press and Journal (Inverness, Highlands, and Islands)
STORM CHAOS AS HECTOR SWEEPS IN TO THE NORTH WITH A BANG
Debris strikes tourists as ferries and rail travel hit
Two Spanish tourists were struck by falling debris in Inverness city centre as Storm Hector swept across the north with a bang yesterday.
Emergency services attended the incident on Church Street around 12:30pm yesterday after debris had fallen above the Munro and Noble solicitors office.
Access to traffic was restricted as Highland Council’s building standards team conducted an investigation and made the building safe.
Nick MacRae, sergeant of the city centre policing team, said: “A roof hatch has lifted off and struck two tourists. They were checked over by ambulance personnel where it was discovered there were no major injuries, and they were found to be safe and well.”
Elsewhere, gusts ex- ceeding 60mph were experienced, with Kirkwall in Orkney clocking gusts of 62mph, as Storm Hector caused chaos to travel arrangements.
Ferry and rail services faced severe disruption as CalMac cancelled the Ardmore-Eriskay, Oban - Castlebay and MallaigLochboisdale routes.
ScotRail tweeted: “Our Glasgow Queen St-Oban services are currently being disrupted by a tree blocking the line at Dalmally. Staff are en route to move this tree as quickly as they can.”
Stornoway Coastguard reported two yachts had broken free from their moorings on Skye during a spout of “unusual” weather for this time of year. Skye also experienced the highest volume of downpour with 130ml of rain recorded.
Winds continued through yesterday, easing up in the afternoon as the weather moved east, with occasional rain experienced later in the day. A spokeswoman for the Met Office said today is expected to bring potential gales over Shetland, with the rest of the north expected to be breezy as the day progresses with dry and sunny spells overshadowed by the odd shower.
The morning will begin largely dry with some light showers expected in the afternoon. Heavier downpours could be present in the north of Scotland late into the day.
She added: “Saturday is expected to be a calmer day as wind gradually eases. Heavy rain experienced from the west will cross the country and pull towards the north-east with potential risk of hail and thunder throughout the day, however, largely brighter and drier conditions will be present in the west.”
Sunday is expected to be the best day of the week with the Met Office reporting less risk of showers, with the day looking fully dry and a lot brighter.