Monster storm
Country faces chaos from hurricane force winds as forecasters warn of snow and ice at weekend
IT was a night when Scots were warned to brace themselves as a monster storm threatened to wreak destructive havoc.
Hurricane force winds in excess of 100mph were expected late last night, prompting fears of damage to homes and disruption to power supplies.
It was initially thought the worst of the weather would be experienced in the Highlands and Western Isles, prompting a Met Office amber ‘ be prepared’ warning.
But forecasters later extended that alert, insisting gusts of 90mph were also a distinct possibility across
‘It’s going to be extremely nasty’
the Central Belt, including Glasgow and Edinburgh. They stressed the ferocious Atlantic blast will also be felt today across Central Scotland, Strathclyde, Tayside, Fife, Lothian and Borders and the South-West.
A Met Office spokesman said: ‘Gusts of between 80mph and 90mph will hit the Central Belt early today, with the serious risk of 100mph in places.
‘It is going to be extremely nasty across much of Scotland over the next couple of days. We’d advise people to venture out only if they really have to.’
He also warned of potential ‘major disruption to roads, railways and air travel. And to further compound the misery, a second storm is set to bring snow, sleet and further strong winds tomorrow and Sunday.
Yesterday power companies said they had already put extra staff on stand-by, while police are urging commuters to check conditions before travelling this morning.
Some ferry services have been cancelled amid fears of possible 50ft waves and ScotRail said it expects a number of train services could be severely interrupted until later today.
Network Rail warned some lines will have to be inspected for damage this morning before any trains can operate.
Conditions on the roads are also likely to be tricky for drivers, in what will be the first major storm of 2015.
Schools and nurseries in Orkney and the Western Isles will be closed today, while the Dounreay nuclear complex in Caithness will be off-limits to all but essential staff.
Met Office spokesman Catherine Sweetman said: ‘ It’s probably the north-west tip of the Western Isles, northern parts of the Scottish mainland and Orkney which are going to get the highest wind gusts as we go through this evening and overnight. We’re looking at gusts in excess of 100mph for these particular locations.
‘ More widely across the North-West, we’re looking at 80 to 90mph gusts and we have an amber warning out for the risk of disruption in these areas.’
She added: ‘We are looking at 60-70mph over the rest of the country and we’ve got a larger yellow warning in force. As we head into the morning over the Central Belt there is a risk of disruption to commuters.’
Sepa last night had seven flood warnings and seven flood alerts in place. The storm is the result of an extra-fast jet stream moving across the Atlantic.
Calum MacColl of the Met Office said: ‘It is a vigorous depression. We could see some strong waves across the coastal areas. Obviously people need to take care and be vigilant.’
Deputy First Minister John Swinney said the Scottish Government’s Resilience operation would be actively monitoring developments.
Network Rail expects a limited number of services to be withdrawn this morning, including trains on the Inverness-Aberdeen route, the Kilwinning-Largs line, the Dum- barton-Helensburgh line and the Glasgow-Mallaig route.
David Dickson of Network Rail said: ‘Safety has to be our f i rst consideration during severe weather. We will be withdrawing a limited number of services until the worst of the storm has passed to allow our engineers to thoroughly inspect the network for damage.’
The firm said it will have hundreds of engineers ready to react to any problems.
Bank of Scotland Insurance urged people to take steps now to reduce the risk of property damage. The average home insurance claim for storm damage is estimated at £447.