Scotland has been hit hard by Storm Isha, causing widespread disruption and leaving thousands of homes without power. Lowland winds of up to 84 mph were recorded, leading ScotRail to suspend all train services from 7 pm on Sunday evening. Network Rail has warned that it will be a “challenging” day clearing the tracks. More than 80,000 properties across the country experienced power cuts, with many still reconnected. The Scottish Environment Protection Agency has more than 30 flood warnings in place across the country.
A red danger to life warning was issued by the Met Office for northeast Scotland on Sunday night. Parts of central and southern Scotland also recorded their highest wind gusts in over 10 years, with Glasgow and Edinburgh both seeing their strongest gusts since 2013. Police Scotland advised all road users to exercise extra caution due to debris on roads, flooding, and short-notice closures.
Transport Scotland’s head of transport resilience warned drivers of the hazardous conditions caused by surface water, high winds, and the risk posed to pedestrians by the high volume of debris. Restrictions for double decker or high-sided vehicles were also in place for bridges such as the Dornoch Bridge, Tay Road Bridge, Queensferry Crossing, Erskine Bridge, Kessock Bridge and the Forth Road Bridge. Dozens of flights were cancelled, and ferry services stopped as a result of the storm.
All passenger and freight services on Scotland’s railways were suspended until later in the day as crews cleared debris, and many trunk roads were closed due to fallen trees as a result of the storm. Peak flood levels were still expected on the River Tay and the River Spey, with more floods anticipated in the north of the country. People were urged to drive carefully and to avoid walking through floodwaters.
Despite the storm not being as strong as initially predicted, it still caused chaos in Scotland. Storm Isha is the ninth named storm to hit the UK since September. The Met Office described it as “very rare” for an amber weather warning for wind to cover almost all of
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