Engineers have been working to reconnect more than 100,000 properties left without power as high winds battered the country, bringing major disruption to the transport network.
ScotRail suspended all services for safety reasons for a time today after hurricane-force winds which brought gusts of up to 113mph.
Ferry services were subject to cancellations and several roads and bridges were closed, as were many schools.
A gust of 113mph was recorded at Stornoway on Lewis, the strongest gust since records at that site began in 1970, while a gust of 110mph was recorded at Loch Glascarnoch and 97mph at Atlnaharra in the Highlands.
Scottish Hydro Electric Power Distribution (SHEPD) said it has restored supplies to 27,500 customers and is working to restore electricity to a further 69,500 customers, with the Western Isles and rural areas the worst hit.
It mobilised 1,000 technical and support staff ahead of the severe weather.
ScottishPower said 12,000 customers were off supply at the peak of the incident and had reconnected 7,000 of them by early afternoon. There were pockets of faults mainly across the central belt, from Ayrshire to Lanarkshire and across to the Lothians.
A spokesman for SP Energy Networks said: “Our network area has experienced exceptionally high wind speeds across the night, and we are currently responding to pockets of faults across our network mainly in the central belt.
“Wind speeds are still high, but we are assessing the damage and closely monitoring the network to allow us to plan repairs. We initiated our emergency action planning earlier this week, bringing in additional contractors and equipment.”
ScotRail said Network Rail would need to inspect rail lines across the network for damage before allowing passengers to travel on routes.
Some services in central Scotland were restored from around 8am and c ross border trains were still running.
The Forth Road Bridge was closed to all vehicles for several hours after a van blew over just before 1am, while many roads around the country have been affected by fallen trees.
In Inverness the Premier Inn hotel was evacuated at around 3am after a gable wall collapsed, while in Edinburgh part of Rose Street was closed after masonry fell from a building near the Roxburghe Hotel.
Two fire crews were called to Mariscat Road on Glasgow’s southside where the wind blew bits of roof off a housing block and on to the street. The street was cordoned off while the damage was assessed.
The Skye, Dornoch and Kessock bridges were closed to high sided vehicles, while the Churchill Barriers in Orkney have been closed.
Police said travel conditions in the Highlands and Islands are “hazardous”, and advised against travelling along causeways or low-lying coastal roads.
The bad weather led to delays to CrossCountry trains running between Berwick-upon-Tweed and Newcastle, while in Kent a broken-down train at Westgate-On-Sea caused hold-ups to services between Margate and Chatham.
On the roads, high-sided vehicles were advised to avoid using the Ouse Bridge on the M62 in Yorkshire.
Police shut the A1 between Durham and Chester-le-Street in both directions after a lorry lost its load.
Flood warnings are in place in central and northern Scotland and all schools in the Western Isles and Orkney have been closed as a precaution, while Heriot Primary in Paisley, Renfrewshire, will be closed today as its roof has been damaged by the weather.
Several CalMac and NorthLink ferry services have been affected by disruption or cancellations.
Stornoway Coastguard said they were called out with the council to help an 80-year-old woman whose window had blown in.
The ferocious gales have been stirred up by an extra-powerful jet stream triggered by plunging temperatures in the United States hitting warmer air in the south.
The Met Office said that the strongest wind in England was at High Bradfield, in South Yorkshire, which saw a gust of 76mph at 1am this morning.
In Wales, the strongest gust was at Aberdaron, Gwynedd, with 76mph at 11pm last night while for Northern Ireland, the strongest was 70mph at Killowen, County Down, at 10pm last night.
The Met Office said: “While the winds have now dropped significantly, it will stay windy through today in many parts and gusts will increase in strength once again tonight as another low pressure system is set to affect northern parts of the country.”
Source Article from https://uk.news.yahoo.com/travel-alert-over-gale-force-winds-001401029.html
100,000 properties without power
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