Gale force winds cause damage at Watten level crossing – emergency procedure in place

Gale force winds caused damage to a railway level crossing at Watten yesterday afternoon and an emergency system was put into operation to allow safe passage of traffic on the B870.

One arm of the traffic barrier broke off due to the gusts and an emergency procedure was set up by ScotRail and Network Rail when trains were due to avoid potential accidents. Trains heading both ways crawled past the former station house at Watten and a special vehicle blocked the affected side of the level crossing to stop vehicles from driving through it when the warning lights were flashing.

An upgrade to many rail barrier systems in the UK occurred after a fatal accident in Caithness in 2009 when three people were killed. On September 29 of that year, a collision occurred between a train and a car at a level crossing near Halkirk resulting in fatal injuries to the three occupants of the car.

There were no injuries to anybody on the train which was not derailed.

Commenting about the weather system that saw high gusts across the county, Wick man Keith Banks said last night: "Force 6 to 7 south-easterly winds gusting up to gale force 8, and occasionally severe gale force 9 affected Caithness today.

"The strong winds will ease and veer southerly late this evening after a weather front moves slowly eastwards across Scotland. A large blocking anticyclone currently centred over Germany and areas of low pressure located to the west of the British Isles are responsible for today's strong winds."

Mr Banks added that the windy conditions are "certainly not unusual" for this time of the year.

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