Woman is killed in storm and Glasgow families are evacuated
A WOMAN has been killed by a falling tree as strong winds from Storm Malik battered northern parts of the UK.
Police Scotland confirmed that a 60-year-old woman was fatally wounded by an uprooted tree in Aberdeen.
Winds of over 100mph have been reported in parts of Scotland, with widespread disruption to travel and power supplies.
Weather warnings are in place across all of Scotland, northern England and parts of Northern Ireland for most of Saturday due to the high winds and rain.
A Police Scotland spokesperson said: “Emergency services were called to Deveron Road in Aberdeen around 10.30am on Saturday, January 29 to reports of a sudden death of a 60-year-old woman.
“There are no suspicious circumstances. A report will now be sent to the procurator fiscal.”
Some Scots could be without power for the rest of the weekend as the impact of another storm due to hit on Sunday could be worse than anticipated, First Minister Nicola Sturgeon has said. Ms Sturgeon chaired a Scottish Government resilience meeting on Saturday as winds of more than 100mph were recorded.
On Twitter, Ms Sturgeon said the impact of Storm Malik had been “severe”, but that Storm Corrie – due to hit from Sunday afternoon – “may be more severe for parts of Scotland”.
“Unfortunately as #Malik subsides, Storm #Corrie is about to hit from late tomorrow afternoon & may be more severe for parts of Scotland – eg Highlands, Grampian, Tayside than anticipated,” she said.
“Please follow @metoffice for any updates to the weather warnings in place.”
There are currently 209 power outages across Scotland, most of which are in the north-east or north of the country, according to the Scottish and Southern Electricity Networks.
“Impact of Storm #Malik is severe,” the First Minister said.
“Power companies working hard to restore supply ASAP but many SSEN customers, esp in (north east) may be without power over weekend. Importance of welfare support and good communication stressed.”
Meanwhile, police, firefighters and the local council have evacuated people from their homes in Glasgow over fears high wind may damage a historic building.
An “exclusion zone” has been set up around Old Trinity College, in the Park Circus area of the city, and the surrounding area over worries that existing structural issues may be exacerbated by Storm Malik, which has seen winds of more than 100mph reported in parts of Scotland.
A spokesman for Glasgow City Council told the PA news agency residents can expect to be out of their homes for “considerably longer than 24 hours”, although he would not be drawn on how long.
A rest centre has been set up at the nearby Kelvin Hall to help those who have been affected.
The council spokesman said: “There’s three towers on the building ... the condition of that had deteriorated to the point where the owner’s contractors and our building standards team thought immediate evacuation was necessary.
“As it stands, those residents who are needing support are directed to the rest centre at the Kelvin Hall.”
He added: “Residents are likely to be out for some time.” When pressed on how long that could mean, the spokesman said it would be “considerably longer than 24 hours”.
It is understood the owners of the building were seeking to address cracks that already existed in the building’s towers before the storm hit.
A spokeswoman for Police Scotland said: “The Fire Service is currently dealing with an unsafe structure and officers are in attendance due to several roads being closed. A number of properties are also being evacuated.”