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The aftermath of two powerful storms that struck Scotland in 2021 continues to pose a significant challenge for the National Trust for Scotland, which has cautioned that restoring the damaged landscapes will likely take several years. In November 2021, Storm Arwen unleashed intense winds across the northeast, prompting a rare red wind warning from the Met Office. Shortly thereafter, Storm Corrie delivered another blow with wind gusts reaching up to 91mph recorded at the Inverbervie weather station in Aberdeenshire. The combined impact of these storms caused widespread flooding, power outages, and visible destruction across the region.
The north east, Highlands, and Argyll and Bute bore the brunt of the storms’ devastation, with tens of thousands of trees uprooted or felled. The damage to the natural environment was immense, affecting hundreds of acres of woodland—an area equivalent to about 20 Murrayfield Stadiums. The extensive loss of tree cover forced the Trust into a prolonged recovery effort that is still ongoing years later.
Chris Wardle, who manages gardens and designed landscapes for Aberdeenshire and Angus on behalf of the National Trust for Scotland, acknowledged that progress has been made but emphasized the scale of the work ahead. Wardle explained that 2025 marked a turning point when the initial emergency response largely concluded. However, clearing the vast quantities of fallen trees remains a time-consuming task due to the widespread nature of the damage. Among the nine properties overseen by the Trust in northeast Scotland, six—Crathes, Drum, Craigievar, Fyvie, Leith Hall, and Castle Fraser—experienced significant impacts during the storms.
During Storm Arwen, the destruction was rapid and severe. Wardle recounted that at Craigievar alone, approximately 60% of the tree cover was lost in roughly one hour. To aid the recovery and replanting efforts, the Trust launched two fundraising initiatives in December 2023: the Dedicate a Tree campaign and the Storm Appeal. These campaigns have focused on replacing the hundreds of thousands of trees across Aberdeenshire that were lost to the storms. By 2022, the Trust had raised over £200,000 specifically for the northeast region, and in spring 2024, nearly 80,000 trees were planted across three sites, covering about 50 hectares. Despite these efforts, further storm events in subsequent years have continued to test the resilience of the region’s woodlands.
Wardle highlighted that the Trust is now contending with the ongoing challenges posed by climate change, which exacerbates extreme weather events. He described a difficult cycle in which recovery efforts are repeatedly interrupted by new storms, making restoration an ongoing endeavor. Additionally, the campaigns have helped protect vulnerable species such as the rare Arran Whitebeam tree in Glen Rosa on the Isle of Arran. This protection proved essential in spring 2025 when a wildfire swept through Glen Rosa, destroying thousands of trees. Wardle explained that fallen trees from winter storms create combustible ground fuel, increasing the wildfire risk during hot, dry summer conditions. Facing this new reality, the Trust continues its fundraising efforts to meet the financial and logistical pressures caused by the increasingly frequent and severe weather events. Wardle concluded that despite the original appeals focusing on Storms Arwen and Corrie, the continued occurrence of storms compels the organization to constantly adapt and respond within finite resources
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