GOING SNOWHERE

High winds and wintry showers hit ferry services as Storm Conor batters nation

STORM Conor battered the country yesterday with snow showers and 85mph winds. The Highlands, Orkney and Shetland were hardest hit by the Boxing Day storm. Rough seas and stormy conditions meant disruption for many ferry services in the north, said operators CalMac. Strong winds and wintry showers also affected much of the Central Belt throughout the day. But forecasters predicted that the worst of the storm will have passed by today. Last night, amber “be prepared” weather warnings were in place for the Highlands and Northern Isles. Lesser yellow warnings remained elsewhere. It comes days after Storm Barbara left about 25,000 homes in the north of Scotland without power.

Yesterday, Met Office forecaster Matt Roe said: “It’s pretty windy elsewhere. We’ve got around 60mph on the west coast.

“Elsewhere, it’s a pretty blustery day, up to around 40mph, maybe 50mph.

“We’ve got some fairly heavy showers too and these are falling as snow across central and northern parts of Scotland. There’s frequent lightning as well with some of those showers in the north.”

Traffic Scotland reported sporadic wintry showers on roads such as the M8, M90 and the A720 Edinburgh City Bypass.

High wind warnings were in place on crossings including the Clackmannanshire Bridge, Forth Road Bridge and Erskine Bridge.

The Scottish Environment Agency had four flood alerts in place yesterday for Caithness and Sutherland, Orkney, Shetland and the Western Isles.

Some CalMac services were disrupted by rough seas but normal service will return today.

Transport Minister Humza Yousaf chaired a meeting of the Scottish Government’s resilience team with representatives of the Met Office, Transport Scotland, Police Scotland and Sepa.

He said yesterday: “Many people will be travelling to spend time with their loved ones at this time of year and we would remind the public to check before they travel and delay their journey if they have to.”