Authorities Prepare For Gale Force Winds

Authorities are preparing to deal with the impact of severe weather as winds of up to 100mph are set to batter parts of Scotland.

Disruption to ferry and train services is likely, while drivers have been warned they could face challenging'' conditions on the roads.

The Met Office has amber be prepared'' warnings in place for very strong westerly winds across the north and the central belt, while the rest of the country is covered by a yellowbe aware'' warning.

Forecasters said gusts of 80-90mph will be common in the Highlands, Western Isles, Orkney, and Argyll & Bute, with winds in excess of 100mph possible in the north.

The winds are predicted to die down tomorrow afternoon before returning on Saturday.

The Scottish Government's resilience team met this morning and a Multi-Agency Response Team (MART), involving partner organisations such as Police Scotland is being activated to monitor conditions and inform the public.

Deputy First Minister John Swinney said: The weather fronts will bring particularly strong winds across the north-west of Scotland, the islands and across the central belt overnight and when people are making their way to work in the morning.

The Scottish Government's resilience operation is actively monitoring weather developments and receiving updates from the Met Office, Scottish Environment Protection Agency (Sepa) and the utilities companies, as well as keeping in touch with emergency responders and councils at a local level in the areas likely to be affected by adverse weather.''

He said utility companies are increasing resources and moving them to places where the storm is likely to damage the electricity network.

Scottish Hydro Electric Power Distribution (SHEPD) is now operating at yellow alert status in response to the severe weather forecast, with hundreds of additional staff mobilised on the ground and in customer call centres to deal with any potential damage the storm may cause.

Network Rail said a limited number of services would be withdrawn from routes likely to bear the brunt of high winds and high tides tomorrow as a safety precaution.

No trains are expected to run from tomorrow morning until late afternoon on the Inverness-Kyle/Thurso/Wick/Aberdeen route, the Kilwinning-Ardrossan/Largs line, the Dumbarton Central-Helensburgh Central route and the Glasgow-Oban/Fort William/Mallaig line, including tonight's Caledonian Sleeper.

David Dickson, Network Rail route managing director for Scotland, said: Safety has to be our first consideration during severe weather.

We will be withdrawing a limited number of services until the worst of the storm has passed to allow our engineers to thoroughly inspect the network for any damage.''

The company said it will have hundreds of engineers out ready to react to any problems on the lines.

Seven flood warnings and seven flood alerts have been put in place across the country by Sepa.

The incoming storm is part of an extra-fast jet stream moving across the Atlantic, triggered by plunging temperatures in the United States which has hit warmer air, stirring up potent winds.

Catherine Sweetman, Met Office adviser for civil contingencies, said: It's probably the north-west tip of the Western Isles, northern parts of the Scottish mainland and Orkney which are going to get the highest wind gusts as we go through this evening and overnight.

"We're looking at gusts in excess of 100mph for these particular locations.

More widely across the north-west, we're looking at sort of 80-90mph in terms of wind gusts and we have an amber warning out for the risk of disruption in these areas.

It's going to be a windy night for the rest of Scotland too - we are looking at 60-70mph over the rest of the country really and we've got a larger yellow warning in force.

As we head into tomorrow morning over the central belt there is a risk of disruption to any early commuters.

The Met Office has also issued yellow warnings of snow and ice across the country apart from Orkney and Shetland on Saturday. It said there could be five to 15cm of snow on high ground.

Motorists have been urged to take particular care between 10pm today and midday tomorrow.

All schools and nurseries in the Western Isles will be closed tomorrow, while buses will be running a limited service.

Sports and leisure facilities in the area will close tonight at 8pm and are expected to be closed tomorrow, apart from Lewis Sports Centre which plans to open at midday.

Libraries are also expected to be open by noon tomorrow.

The council and police will be monitoring all causeways and people have been advised to secure any loose debris.