70 mph winds in Caithness – but central belt bears the brunt of the storms

WIND gusts of 70 mph were recorded at Wick on Wednesday night as the North was struck by storms.

Local weather watcher Keith Banks said the worst of the winds occurred in the evening as the very deep low responsible swept past the Northern Isles.

“There were lots of gusts of between 55 mph and 62 mph – storm-force 10 – during this period,” said Keith.

“I recorded a peak gust of 70 mph at 8.30pm and 66 mph at about 9.30pm. The west-north-west winds were still gusting up to 55 mph at 1am on Thursday morning.”

But the county fared not too badly compared to other parts of the country, including the central belt of Scotland which bore the brunt of the storms.

“I would say Caithness escaped relatively unscathed this time,” he added.

Do you want to respond to this article? If so, click here to submit your thoughts and they may be published in print.