All Ayrshire schools OFF on Friday at region braces for Storm Éowyn

All schools and council nurseries across South Ayrshire, East Ayrshire and North Ayrshire will close on Friday - as Storm Éowyn moves in with winds of up to 100mph expected.

All three local authorities confirmed lessons are off after resilience meeting earlier.

A message on the South Ayrshire Council website reads: “All South Ayrshire schools will be closed on Friday 24 January 2025. This includes all early years' centres, primary, secondary and special schools. All breakfast clubs, after school care and lets in school buildings and 3G pitches will also be cancelled.

It is expected that all schools and early years centres will be open on Monday 27 January as normal.”

Services across all three council areas will be affected

Other services will also be impacted including bin collections.

North Ayrshire Council has released the following statement: “There will be disruption to North Ayrshire Council services tomorrow (Friday 24 Jan) with Storm Eowyn expected to create dangerous conditions across the area.

Residents are advised to stay indoors as much as possible tomorrow, especially those living in coastal communities, and to delay travel plans until conditions improve.

The storm is expected to bring peak gusts of between 80mph and 90mph inland and up to 100mph along more exposed coasts and hills. As well as the strong winds, snow and rain are also expected.

"Safety of residents and staff comes first"

Chief Executive Craig Hatton said: “The safety of our residents and staff comes first in emergency situations like this. We would advise everyone – where possible – to stay safe and stay at home.

“There will be disruption to some of our services, and we will update residents via our website and social media channels.”

For safety reasons, the Council will close all schools, nurseries, libraries and housing offices across North Ayrshire tomorrow.

There will be no household bin collections on Friday and information on alternative arrangements will be shared on the Council’s official social media channels. Residents should NOT put bins out on the street.

All Household Waste Recycling Centres will be shut on Friday and Saturday.”

A rare red weather warning for wind has been put out between 10am and 5pm tomorrow which covers Ayrshire, as well as much of the central belt.

The MET Office says flying debris could cause a 'danger to life' with treacherous driving conditions on the roads and the potential for power-cuts affecting mobile coverage.

"Danger to life" warning

Scotland's Transport Secretary Fiona Hyslop said: "The Met Office has upgraded their weather warnings for Storm Eowyn to the highest level, which means there will be widespread disruption to the transport network.

"I would urge people to follow police advice and avoid travel in the area affected by the red warning for wind. If you do need to travel, your journey is likely to be badly disrupted and there will likely be cancellations to rail, ferry and air services.

"Traffic Scotland will provide the most up-to-date information on the trunk roads throughout the warning periods, via their website, social media channels and radio broadcasts.

"The conditions will inevitably cause major disruption to rail, ferry and aviation services too, so please contact your operator to see if your journey has been affected."

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