Storms impact update

First Minister Nicola Sturgeon has chaired a further meeting of the Scottish Government’s Resilience Room (SGoRR) to co-ordinate the response to Storm Malik and Storm Corrie.

An amber warning is in place for Storm Corrie covering the Western Isles, Highlands, Grampian and Tayside until 6am tomorrow and gusts of 60mph to 80mph will be widespread, with 90 mph gusts in exposed western areas.

Gusts of between 60mph and 70mph are likely across the rest of the country, where a Yellow warning remains in place until noon tomorrow and there is potential for property damage.

Of the 98,000 households that lost power as a result of Storm Malik, all but 7,500 are expected to be reconnected tonight after additional engineers were drafted in. However, for the remainder – mainly in Aberdeenshire – disruption could last until Tuesday.

Rail travel has been disrupted today with all services on the Inverness – Aberdeen and the Far North lines cancelled, while ScotRail stopped all services from 18:00 for safety purposes. It is expected most will resume tomorrow morning.

Deputy First Minister John Swinney said:

“Storm Malik caused significant damage on Saturday and Storm Corrie threatens to be similarly disruptive tonight. I urge everyone to heed the warnings, don’t travel unless you have to and stay safe. Remember, a Yellow warning does mean there are likely to be dangers.

“The power companies have drafted in a large number of additional engineers and are making significant inroads into reconnecting customers. However, we need to be aware that the arrival of Storm Corrie could hamper these efforts and add further problems.

“For those who will unfortunately not have power tonight, support with alternative accommodation is available to anyone who needs it. Special arrangements remain in place for vulnerable customers and local resilience partnerships continue to work with councils to provide welfare support.

“Rail services have been significantly impacted this weekend and will halt overnight. Whilst our expectation is that services will resume as soon as possible on Monday, people should check the ScotRail and Traffic Scotland channels for travel updates before leaving home.

“Safety is our number one priority. Ministers are being kept updated and will take further action as necessary. In the meantime I thank all those who are working in difficult conditions to keep people safe and maintain our lifeline services.”

Background

Follow @metoffice for any updates to the weather warnings in place.

Members of the public can track estimated power restoration times on the SSEN and SP Energy Networks websites.

Updates on ScotRail services and road conditions are available online.