Storm Arwen: 80,000 homes in Scotland without power

About 80,000 homes in Scotland are without electricity as a result of the damage caused by Storm Arwen.

The main areas affected are Aberdeenshire, Angus, Perthshire and the Moray coast.

Police warned people not to travel "under any circumstances" in areas covered by a Met Office red warning following a 90mph wind forecast.

The Met Office's highest storm level warning was in place until 02:00 on Saturday.

Many parts of Scotland have suffered storm damage and travel disruption as a result of the high winds.

Coastal areas of Angus, Fife, Aberdeenshire, Moray, East Lothian and the Scottish Borders, along with Aberdeen and Dundee have been the worst affected.

Scottish and Southern Electricity Networks (SSEN) said that as of 22:00 on Friday, 80,000 customers were off supply.

The utility firm has managed to restore power to a further 25,000 homes affected by the storms but warned the weather was severely hampering its work.

On Friday night, Mark Rough, director of customer operations at SSEN, said: "Storm Arwen has brought some of the most severe and challenging weather we have experienced in recent years, resulting in significant disruption across the north of Scotland.

"Despite detailed preparations, the prolonged and severe nature of the weather front has hampered efforts to restore supplies, with the high winds expected to continue until the early hours of the morning.

"We therefore expect many customers to remain without power into tomorrow, particularly in the Aberdeenshire area."

Train services across the country have been stopped because of the weather conditions. There has been a landslip as well as trees falling on to overhead power cables and railway lines, leaving people stranded on carriages and at railway stations.

A barn was blown on to the line near Polmont.

ScotRail urged passengers on its trains in the north east delayed by fallen trees to "sit tight". Network rail warned it "may take some time" for its staff to reach them.

Supt Simon Bradshaw said: "The high winds being experienced along the coastal areas of the north, east and southern parts of Scotland have led to red weather warnings coming into effect and as such, any motorist within these affected regions should not travel under any circumstances."

Following a meeting of the Scottish government's Resilience Room (SGoRR), First Minister Nicola Sturgeon said in a tweet that the "conditions pose a potential risk to life".

Transport minister Graeme Dey said people should be prepared for possible travel disruption across Scotland.

A Met Office amber warning for gales and a yellow alert for high winds and snow have also been issued for other parts of the country.

Red warnings mean there could be danger to life, damage to property, travel and power disruption, and dangerous seas.

The Met Office said: "A spell of exceptionally strong northerly winds will affect eastern coastal districts of Scotland from later this afternoon moving south into south-east Scotland and north-east England this evening.

"Gusts of 80-90 mph are likely and these will generate some very large waves."

The strongest gusts have been recorded in Inverbervie at 78mph (125km/h). In Lossiemouth, the 74mph (119km/h) gusts are the highest recorded since 2015.

Deputy First Minister John Swinney said the red weather warning was "rare".

"People in these affected areas should not travel under any circumstances, including motorists," he said. "Yellow and amber weather warnings also remain in place for a number of areas and people should continue to exercise extreme caution and plan any necessary journeys in advance as there is disruption to transport services.

"The Scottish government is in close contact with local authorities and the emergency services to ensure people in the affected areas receive the latest information, advice and support where needed."

A Met Office amber weather warning for winds gusting to 75mph along coastal areas of eastern Scotland is in place until 09:00 Saturday.

In addition, yellow weather warnings for high winds and snow are in place through to Saturday evening, with gusts of 55 to 65mph forecast for coastal areas.

Arwen is the first of the Met Office's latest list of named storms this winter.

There has been disruption on Scotland's roads.

The A1 has been closed to high-sided vehicles, and a 10-mile (16km) stretch has been closed in both directions between Thistly Cross roundabout and Abbotsview Junction due to high winds.

Trunk roads company Bear Scotland said wind speeds of up to 84mph (135km/h) were forecast at the bridge over the River Tyne near East Linton.

A diversion route is in place via the A199.

The A96 between Elgin and Forres has been blocked by a number of fallen trees and the A90 is closed after Brechin because of "multiple incidents on the carriageway".

Traffic Scotland has reported numerous other road closures across the area affected by Storm Arwen, including an overturned HGV on the A90 near Bogbrae.

There are multiple fallen trees on a 20-mile stretch of the A9 from Dalwhinnie to House of Bruar, blocking the north bound carriageway.

The A85 at Crieff and between Tarbet and Tyndrum, as well as the A84 between Doune and Callander were also closed due to fallen trees.

The Tay Road Bridge was also closed to all traffic at 22:00.

Aberdeen Council appealed for taxi drivers to pick up passengers stranded at the city bus station after all buses were cancelled.

Bus services were also withdrawn in large swathes of eastern Scotland.

Network Rail Scotland said the line between Keith and Elgin in the north of Scotland had been blocked by a landslip and engineers were assessing the damage.

The track operator said high winds were blowing large objects on to the railways and this ranged "from trees and trampolines to an entire barn".

ScotRail services had already been withdrawn on the line between Aberdeen and Inverness because of Storm Arwen.

Routes between Perth and Aberdeen and on the Far North Line between Inverness and Wick have also been closed.

Trains from Edinburgh to Fife, Dundee and Perth were all suspended because of the storm.

ScotRail said it was "struggling to get replacement transport" and advised passengers stranded at railway stations to get in touch using a platform help point.

London North Eastern Railway, which operates trains between London and Aberdeen, urged people not to travel until Monday because their services were severely disrupted.

All trains north of Newcastle have been cancelled but replacement buses between Newcastle and Edinburgh will not operate because of the A1 road closure.

East coast route director Sarah Reid said staff were "doing all we can to keep services moving where possible and it is safe to do so".

Ferry operator CalMac has warned of disruption across its network, and has already cancelled some sailings.

Services disrupted include Oban to Castlebay on Barra and Ullapool to Stornoway.

NorthLink Ferries has also warned of disruption to its Northern Isles services, and the bad weather has affected Loganair flights to and from Shetland.

The Scottish Environment Protection Agency said coastal areas were expected to see the worst of the windy weather.

It has issued flood alerts for Aberdeenshire and Aberdeen, Dundee and Angus, Edinburgh and Lothians, Fife, parts of Moray and the Scottish Borders.

The HM Coastguard issued a warning about dangerous seas and told people not to put themselves at risk by taking pictures on the coastline.

"A dramatic photograph or selfie is not worth risking your life for," it said.

Aberdeenshire Council said the snow gates at the Lecht on the A939 Cockbridge to Tomintoul road would be closed from 13:00 due to difficult driving conditions.

Bad weather has already closed more than a dozen schools in the Highland Council area.

Wick High School was shut due to damage caused by high winds and will be closed along with the primary school and other facilities on Wick Community Campus until Tuesday.

All schools in Orkney closed at lunchtime.

Moray Council said Tomintoul Primary and Glenlivet Primary closed early due to a forecast of high winds and blizzards. Elgin Library was closed after storm damage to the building.

A Met Office yellow warning for snow runs from 14:00 to midnight and snow could accumulate to as much as 8cm (3in) above 300m (984ft) in upland areas of the Highlands, Aberdeenshire, Moray, Perth and Kinross and Angus.

The Mountain Weather Information Service has forecast "massive snowfall" for the Cairngorms overnight Friday and into Saturday, and the risk of wind-blown snow causing whiteout conditions.

In addition, on Friday in the Cairngorms and south eastern Highlands, the service has warned of gusts of 100 to 120 mph in hurricane force winds.

The most recent red weather warning in the UK was in February 2020 for heavy rain in South Wales associated with Storm Dennis.

The last red warning in Scotland was in March 2018 during the storm which was dubbed the Beast from the East. It was a combined wind and snow warning which also covered parts of south west England and South Wales.

Are you in the area covered by the red alert? Are you preparing for the storm? Share your experiences by emailing [email protected].

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