The Boxing Day gales!

‘Danger to life’ warning as Storm Bella to hit with up to 3in of rain

SCOTS were yesterday warned to batten down the hatches as parts of the country faced a festive battering from gale force winds.

While other parts of Britain woke up to a white Christmas, Scotland missed out – and Storm Bella is due to blow in just as mainland coronavirus lockdown measures are reintroduced.

The storm is expected to dump up to three inches (80mm) of rain in a warning area stretching from north of Glasgow to the very top of the country.

A Met Office yellow warning says the deluge will be accompanied by strong to galeforce winds, resulting in very difficult driving conditions and large waves overtopping seaside spots on the West Coast.

Transport Scotland will close the relief road for the landslide-prone A83, which remains shut at the Rest and Be Thankful in Argyll. The Old Military Road will close at 3.30pm today amid fears heavy rain will bring more mud and rock down the hills.

Meanwhile, a separate yellow warning for wind comes into effect at 3pm today for southern Scotland, where gusts of 7080mph can be expected on higher ground. This warning lasts until midday tomorrow.

Conditions in Dumfries and Galloway and the Scottish Borders will be so extreme – roads and bridges could be closed and power cuts possible – the Met

Office has declared it ‘a danger to life’. Sarah Kent of the Met Office said: ‘Scotland will see the first bite of Bella in the UK.

‘The worst of the rain will occur around 9am on Boxing Day, with the heaviest and most persistent downpours in the west.

‘Eastern parts, like Aberdeenshire, will get away with a dry morning due to the protection from the Grampian hills. Quite widely, we will see 30-40mm (up to one and a half inches) of rain during the warning period, with as much as 80mm (three inches) on higher ground.

‘With that volume of rain, we are expecting localised flooding or damage to property in some prone spots. Even in the Central Belt, we could see 20-30mm (an inch) of rainfall.

‘If people have to be out, then they should be aware that the rain will be accompanied by gale force winds.’

Very low temperatures can also be expected in Scotland tomorrow night.

Snow was recorded in some parts of the UK yesterday, with the Met Office declaring it a white Christmas.

A festive dusting of snow left eastern parts of England experiencing the first white Christmas in three years.

There were snowy scenes in Suffolk, Cambridgeshire, East Yorkshire, County Durham and Northumberland.