Wick weather watcher fears Hogmanay could be a damp squib
Caithness roads are affected by flooding with parts of Thurso severely impacted and fears that Hogmanay celebrations could be affected.
The A882 between Wick and Thurso has areas of severe flooding and motorists are advised to drive with caution. A torrent of water was observed flowing along a stretch of the A9 leading into Thurso this morning, flowing towards the traffic lights by the Tesco supermarket.
Thurso and Northwest Caithness councillor Matthew Reiss noted that council workers were busy with bin collections in the town centre and the area around the Coop appeared generally unaffected by the flooding.
He added: “I contacted Bear Scotland earlier this morning and they have a team on-site at Millbank and the flooding there appears to be subsiding. They only work on areas around the A9.
“There’s also an SSEN squad working on power lines to the south of Thurso.”
The Met Office has a weather warning in place for Caithness until January 2 saying that rain and snow will likely bring travel disruptions. Issued at 10.39am today, it warns that “rain turning to snow is likely to lead to some travel disruption and difficult driving conditions on New Year’s Day”.
Meanwhile, Wick weather watcher Keith Banks warns that locally planned outdoor Hogmanay celebrations “could be in real jeopardy thanks to the foul weather”.
He says that 45.6mm (1.80 inches) of rain has fallen on Wick in the 48 hours ending at 6am this morning.
“The Hogmanay and pre-New Year misery, was compounded by a raw and penetrating gale force 8 easterly wind associated with a depression that moved in from the Atlantic overnight.
“The strong easterly winds will abate and veer south-westerly for a time today as the centre of the low moves away eastwards across Caithness. However, the respite will be short-lived. Strong north-east winds will likely develop this evening, and the rain will return as the low moves away across the North Sea. The north-east winds will allow an Arctic air mass to dig in with an increasing likelihood of snow, affecting Caithness, even down to sea level on New Year’s Day.”
The Met Office adds: “A band of rain will turn increasingly to snow at low levels as it moves south Wednesday morning, then clearing to snow showers in the afternoon, which will continue overnight and through to Thursday morning. 1-3cm are likely at low levels with 5-10cm above 300m, leading to difficult driving conditions and some travel disruption.
“Some heavy showers through the afternoon. This will be followed by persistent rain over the northwest during the evening, which sinks south through the early hours. Widespread totals of 20mm quite widely with snow over high ground, with a further 10cm accumulating above 300-400 metres.
Strong winds may exacerbate impacts, particularly across the areas affected by snow. Blizzard conditions are possible, especially over high ground and across much of Sutherland and Caithness. Powerline icing is possible where blizzard conditions occur.
Highland Council’s road report for Caithness issued at 8.12am states that there is heavy rain and flooding on the east side of Caithness this morning, with lots of standing water.
“Heavy snow on the Thurso side with a couple of inches of wet snow and up to half-a-foot of snow heading west towards Melvich. Drivers should proceed with caution this morning and allow extra journey time. Treating routes as required and no known overnight action to report.”
