6 hours Ago By BBC
Ferries, flights and rail services have been shut down across Scotland as a large part of the country braces for the arrival of a violent storm. Winds of up to 100mph are forecast during Storm Éowyn with a large part of Scotland's central belt and the south west under a red "danger to life" weather warning. Almost all schools have been closed ahead of the red alert, which officially comes in to place from 10:00 and will run until 17:00.
Police Scotland has activated "operation overflow" to support those who are now stranded after booking onto sea crossings, while authorities have urged all drivers not to travel until conditions improve. Roads were empty in the early hours of Friday with conditions already blustery and rain in parts. Sepa has issued a number of flood warnings for western areas and Dumfries and Galloway.
The whole of Northern Ireland is covered by another red alert and thousands are already without power. ScotRail suspended all services on Friday, saying it would "not be safe to operate passenger services" due to the conditions. The rail operator's communications director, David Ross, told BBC's Good Morning Scotland : "The big risk is objects falling onto the line, for example trees trapping trains.
"Given the conditions across the country it would be very difficult to access trapped trains, whether through the road conditions or other objects on the line preventing rescue. It just wouldn't be safe." Glasgow and Edinburgh Airports are operating a limited service, while all but a handful of flights from Aberdeen Airport – which is facing an amber warning – have been cancelled.
Travel reporter Simon Calder told the programme that about 250-300 flights within Scotland had been cancelled on Friday, affecting up to 20,000 passengers. CalMac said all ferry services were cancelled on Friday, while Northlink said services on its routes would be cancelled or delayed. Police Scotland said those booked on ferry services between Cairnryan and Northern Ireland should not travel to the area and check with operators Stenaline and P&O for any updates.
They said freight drivers who "must attend" the port should follow instruction from their operators to access the Operation Overflow site, which will provide support. BEAR Scotland said it was likely major bridges including the Forth Road Bridge would close, while the Queensferry Crossing and Clackmannanshire Bridge would be shut to high-sided vehicles. The A83 near Dunderave Castle in Argyll closed shortly before 05:00 due to a "traffic incident," while the A75 at Skyreburn Bridge shut at about 07:30 due to a fallen tree.
In Edinburgh, Lothian Buses said all services were being withdrawn for the duration of the red warning. BBC Scotland weather presenter Judith Ralston described the storm as a "once in a generation" event. She said the strongest gusts early on Friday morning were recorded around Islay and the Mull of Kintyre in the south west.
She said: "We've seen gusts in excess of 60mph here but we're looking at 80-90mph, possibly 100mph for the west coast in the red warning area. "This is an intense storm - once in a generation if not rarer." Schools closed All schools in are closed in: In Aberdeenshire, all but one school, Tough School, near Kirkton of Tough, were closed on Friday morning.
In the Highlands, decisions about school closures will be made on an individual basis. Schools are expected to be open in Moray, Orkney and Shetland. Outside of the red warning area, the rest of Scotland will be covered by amber and yellow alerts for wind and snow for much of the day.
An amber warning for wind covering everywhere north of Perth, including Orkney and Shetland, lasts from 06:00 on Friday until 06:00 on Saturday. Another amber warning for wind covering everywhere south of Perth, though sweeping up the west coast encompassing the Isle of Mull, lasts from 06:00 until 21:00 on Friday. This will include the areas affected by the red alert after 17:00 Meanwhile, a yellow warning for snow, starting at 06:00 on Friday until midnight, covers parts of central Scotland, Tayside, Fife, Grampian, the Highlands and Islands and Argyll & Bute.
Further amber and yellow warnings for wind are in place on Saturday. Tesco and Sainsbury's have shut stores across all areas in the red warning zone to "ensure the safety of its colleagues and customers". Meanwhile, delivery service UberEats said it was pulling all services in the red zone until the warning ended.
Energy supplier SSEN has warned customers should be prepared for the likelihood that their power supplies may be disrupted. The company said they had increased their response teams to "10 times the usual levels" ahead of the storm, while 170,000 vulnerable customers have been sent text messages giving them advice on how to prepare..
