Storms whip up damage and disruption in Argyll

Gales gusting over 70 mph, hundreds of lightning flashes, snow disruptions and powerful waves have given the Oban area a combined battering after multiple storms struck in just one week.

Power was cut in some places, ferries have been cancelled or delayed, traffic has been held up and storm debris has littered roads. Appeals to stay safe were issued as the district braced itself for even more pending devastation.

Winds will not be as forceful but looking towards the end of this week, a calmer day is expected tomorrow (Friday) with gusts across Oban expected to pick up to 46mph Saturday evening and rising to 49mph on Sunday night.

On Luing, Colin Buchanan took photographs of the damage inflicted by Storm Franklin, battering and crumbling Cullipool’s fragile shoreline.

‘Every big storm we get eats away more and more of the shore. It’s drastic,’ said Mr Buchanan.

‘I can’t remember having storms like this one after the other. The shoreline is becoming beyond repair now. The edge at the north end of Cullipool now meets the track,’ he added. Ideas to help protect the community from erosion are being looked at but would require funding.

A combination of bad weather and a power cut in Craignure led to cancelled ferries between Oban and Mull on Monday after the linkspan failed.

CalMac customers across the whole network were warned to expect disruptions as the extreme weather continued.

Oban Airport Facebook page messaged on Monday: ‘There will be a lot of tired eyes in North Argyll this morning following last night’s thunderstorm. Our lightning detector at the airport recorded 494 lightning strikes from midnight last night till just after 03.30am.’

Nature’s lightshow was reported to have cut out many wifi connections across Oban.

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