Perilous Times and
Climate Change
8 December 2011 Last updated at 10:22 ET
Severe winds cause chaos in Scotland, storms cause power
blackouts hitting thousands
Four of Scotland's police forces have advised against all travel
BBC - Police have told people in Scotland not to travel, as severe
winds of up to 165mph are battering the country, leaving thousands
without power.
As the Met Office issued its highest warning, a red alert,
hundreds of schools have shut and bridge and road closures are
causing disruption.
England, Wales and Northern Ireland are also being hit by wind and
rain.
Police in Strathclyde, Dumfries and Galloway, Central Scotland and
Lothian and Borders advised against all travel.
The severe weather hit many other parts of the UK, including:
In Cumbria, heavy rain caused flooding in the Windermere area,
with road closures and reports of vehicles stuck in water.
Gales in Northern Ireland were predicted to reach 80mphalong
the north coast.
The Welsh Environment Agency warned of strong winds, with
heavy rain forecast for mid and north Wales.
A gust of 89mph has been recorded in Tiree. The Ski area at Aonach
Mor, just outside Fort William in the Highlands has reported a
wind gust of 130mph (209kph). The Met Office said winds at
Cairngorm Summit had reached up to 165mph (264kph).
Thousands of people in Argyll and the Western Isles have been left
without electricity, Scottish Hydro said.
The company has 500 staff working to restore supplies.
Scottish Power said Dumfries, central Scotland and the Clyde coast
had also been hit with power cuts, after trees and other debris
blew onto and, in some cases, brought down overhead power lines.
The company said it had more than 600 engineers battling to
restore power, with extra workers being drafted in from Merseyside
and Wales.
But it warned fallen trees were blocking access, and high wind
speeds prevented engineers from climbing poles.
Localised faults have also been reported in Sanquhar, Dumfries,
Dollar, Falkirk, Helensburgh and Stranraer.
NHS patients have also been sent home and, in Fort William,
Belford Hospital was left without power or working phones, due to
severe weather.
Central Scotland Police Assistant Chief Constable Allan Moffat,
speaking on behalf of the Association of Chief Police Officers in
Scotland, said: "The advice for motorists across the central belt
of Scotland is to avoid travel, as the severe weather moves across
the country from west to east, starting around noon on the west
side of the country.
"It is expected that the impact of the weather will affect the
east side of the country from 2pm onwards.
"This advice to avoid travel is not given lightly but is based on
the clearest information yet from weather forecasters that there
will be high winds with gusts of up to 90 miles per hour."
The Forth Road Bridge was closed to all traffic, after a gust of
84mph was recorded, and is expected to stay shut until 18:00.
The Scottish government's resilience committee has been meeting to
assess the changing situation.
Police are warning of the potential for serious travel disruption,
with gusts of more than 80mph (128kph) expected in places.
Flooding in a number of areas has also caused problems, including
road closures.
Train operator ScotRail said it had been forced to cut services,
with a temporary timetable coming into force, as Network Rail
imposed a 50mph speed restriction.
Commuters have also been advised to consider leaving work early
because of the possibility of afternoon rush-hour disruption.
The Erskine Bridge was also closed.
The government said schools across west, central and southern
Scotland should either not open or close early.
Scotland's deputy first minister, Nicola Sturgeon, told the BBC's
Good Morning Scotland programme that, while decisions on closures
were a matter for local authorities, the government issued advice
on Wednesday night that schools in the west should consider not
opening, and schools in the east should close by Thursday
lunchtime.
Hibernian players are forced to abandon a training session in
Edinburgh
She said the resilience committee met five times on Wednesday,
adding: "At the last of those meetings, we got advice from the Met
Office which suggested the severe weather would hit earlier than
anticipated."
Ms Sturgeon said: "Local authorities should act today with safety
as their paramount consideration.
"These decisions are ultimately for local authorities, but we put
very clear advice out to local authorities lat night based on the
most up-to-date position."
The strongest winds are expected from 1200 GMT in Glasgow and
west-central areas and 1500 GMT in the east of the central belt,
lasting through into the evening.
The Met Office said there was significant risk of structural
damage.
Parents have been advised to check their local council websites
for information on school closures.
Network Rail managing director for Scotland, David Simpson, said:
"We will have over 350 engineers out on the network, working to
keep the railway running.
"However, the extreme nature of the conditions, and the impact
they can have on our infrastructure, means that a speed
restriction is necessary in the interests of safety."
Police in the Highlands have warned drivers to prepare thoroughly
for any journeys they have to make, while Tayside Police said
fresh falls of snow and blizzard conditions were expected in
places.
All double-decker buses are being withdrawn by First Glasgow. A
much-reduced service will run using single-decker vehicles.
A car was crushed by a storm-damaged wall in Aberdeen
Another casualty of the weather is the Christmas display in
Glasgow's George Square. Glasgow Life has said the festive
attractions will be closed all day on Thursday as a precaution.
Extremely difficult conditions are forecast around Scotland's
coasts.
The Met Office is warning of south or south-east winds of force 6
to gale force 8, veering into the west or southwest and increasing
severe gale 9 to violent storm 11.
Elsewhere, heavy rain has led to flooding in the Windermere area
of Cumbria.
Local police said they had a number of reports of vehicles stuck
in water around Windermere and Troutbeck.
Sections of the A591 at Ambleside and Windermere were also closed
because of the flooding, along with a section of the A592 at
Troutbeck Bridge.
And there were strong wind warnings for the M6 in Cumbria and the
A66 in County Durham was closed to high-sided vehicles.
Parts of Northern Ireland have also experienced disruption due to
strong winds, with gales forecast to reach 80mph along the north
coast.
The Met Office have issued an amber weather warning for Thursday.