Ongoing travel disruption as clean-up after Storm Eowyn gets under way

Travellers in Scotland face continuing disruption in the aftermath of Storm Eowyn, as efforts to clean up the damage done by Friday’s hurricane-force winds get under way.

People all over Scotland were urged to stay indoors on Friday to avoid injury as winds of up to 100mph swept across much of the south of the country.

The Met Office issued a rare red weather warning covering the central belt and yellow and amber warnings for the rest of the country, and a wind speed of 100mph was recorded in South Lanarkshire in the early afternoon.

Thousands of residents were left without power as strong winds caused disruption across the country and there was widespread travel disruption, with trains and ferries suspended and roads closed.

Transport Scotland said a number of roads remain closed on Saturday morning as a result of the storm.

Erskine Bridge remains closed while structural inspections take place, the A737 exit slip road at Linwood and the A78 southbound at Chriswell are both closed because of fallen trees, while the M80 J8 to J9 is also closed.

Network Rail Scotland (NRS) said all trains north of the border will remain suspended until 12pm “at the earliest” as inspections are carried out on railway lines and stations across the country, with customers advised to check social media and the Scotrail website and app for updates.

In posts on social media on Saturday morning NRS said 400 incidents of damage on Scotland’s railways had been found since the storm passed, including trees and other debris being found on tracks.

They also said “extensive damage” had been done to overhead lines, which they said would need to be repaired before trains could resume safely.

They advised that tickets for journeys that were disrupted by the storm can be used up to and including Tuesday January 28, and that customers can also apply for a fee-free refund on any unused tickets.

Buses were also widely disrupted across Scotland on Friday and many ferry services were cancelled, with ferry operators announcing continuing disruption over the weekend.

CalMac said storm damage has caused all services on its Kennacraig, Port Askaig and Port Ellen route and Oban, Colonsay, Port Askaig and Kennacraig route to be cancelled on Saturday, while all sailings between Gourock and Dunoon are cancelled on Saturday and Sunday, with a replacement shuttle bus being provided.

Meanwhile a number of other CalMac services face disruption or possible disruption and replacement timetables have been issued for a number of routes, with further information being available on the CalMac website.

NorthLink, which operates ferries between the mainland and the northern isles, said Saturday morning sailings across the Pentland Firth have been cancelled because of adverse weather conditions, and that afternoon sailings may be subject to delays.

Disruption to power supplies is also continuing, with SP Energy Networks saying engineers had worked through the night to restore power to more than 80% of properties affected by the storm but that 30,265 customers were still without power this morning.

On Friday evening Scottish and Southern Electricity Networks (SSEN) Distribution said supplies had been restored to 30,454 customers but that 48,940 were still cut off.

On a post on social media on Saturday morning SSEN said it had set up hot food and drink vans for those still without power.

The Met Office has also issued yellow weather warnings covering the whole of Scotland for much of Saturday.

A yellow weather warning for wind is in place covering the central belt northwards until 3pm on Saturday, while a yellow weather warning for snow and ice covers all bar the far north and west of the country until 11am.

Police Scotland said officers had responded to 1,900 weather-related incidents across the country on Friday, while the Scottish Fire and Rescue Service said it had responded to around 300 incidents.

Schools and nurseries across Scotland were closed on Friday while non-urgent planned hospital procedures were postponed in NHS Lanarkshire and NHS Lothian.

Glasgow and Edinburgh airports also saw dozens of flights cancelled on Friday morning due to the weather conditions.

The Met Office red warning ran until 5pm on Friday and covered the central belt including Glasgow and Edinburgh, stretching north on the west coast to Jura in Argyll and Bute.

It originally stretched south to Stranraer in Dumfries and Galloway but at around 11am on Friday this was extended to cover most of Dumfries and Galloway.