The A83 road leading to Argyll and the Inner Hebrides has been blocked by seven landslips due to heavy rain that fell persistently over the last two days. Ten people had to be air-lifted from their cars at the peak of the bad weather. A warning of potential danger to life and property is in force for parts of Angus, Aberdeenshire, Perth and Kinross, Moray and Highland until 2 pm Sunday. On Saturday, there were no cross-border trains, and dozens of services were cancelled by ScotRail, which warned of further disruptions on Sunday.
According to the police, although there have been no injuries reported, they are treating the heavy rain in the western parts of Scotland as a “major incident.” Road maintenance agencies have stated that the road conditions around the Argyll area were challenging, and it was dangerous to evaluate the A83 landslips on Saturday. The closure of the road has left motorists having to navigate long detours to get to their destinations.
An ambitious project has been put in motion by Transport Scotland to construct a mile-long open-sided tunnel on the road, costing about £470m, to make it more resilient to bad weather. However, it is unknown the effect that the landslips will have on these plans. The A83 is a vital 100-mile long road, linking the Mull of Kintyre and southern Argyll to the shores of Loch Lomond. It is used by about 1.3 million vehicles per year.
Posting on X, the social media site formerly known as Twitter, Michael Russell, the former Argyll MSP, said that the quantity of rainfall in Argyll and But was astonishing and that slips were concerning in the area where severe problems have previously not occurred. According to Bear Scotland, road closures are in place between Inveraray and Tarbet due to landslides on both sides of the Dunoon junction. The Be Thankful and other sections of the A83 have had seven identified landslides, which would make the area unsafe for cleaning operations to commence.
The Scottish government has stated that health and social staff in Argyll are working with community groups to reach vulnerable people who may need help, and the local council would be offering help such as opening up community halls. The Scottish Environment Protection Agency (Sepa) has issued 48 flood warnings and 17 flood alerts. The warning covers impacted areas such as the Highlands, Angus, Ayrshire, Argyll, and Bute, the Scottish borders, and NE Scotland
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