Heavy rain causes disruption as 'danger to life' weather warning issued

Parts of Scotland were battered by heavy rain on Sunday causing travel disruption.

People travelling on Monday are facing disruption after parts of Scotland were battered by heavy rain overnight.

ScotRail said that speed restrictions would be implemented across the network on Monday due to forecasted heavy rain, and as a result, services would be subject to delays, alterations and cancellations.

Services between Glasgow Queen Street and Mallaig were cancelled, delayed, or revised, on Monday due to the adverse weather conditions.

The rail provider said speed restrictions were estimated to be in place on the network until 1pm on September 25.

Replacement buses for the affected services were requested and passengers have been urged to check their journeys before travelling.

In an update to customers, ScotRail said: “Due to the forecasted heavy rain we are implementing speed restrictions at several locations across our network today. 

“Due to the speed restrictions in place our services will be subject to delays, alterations and cancellations as trains will be running at a reduced speed.”

Ferry passengers have also been hit with disruption due to adverse weather conditions.

CalMac warned that due to forecast winds and sea state, services were liable to disruption or cancellation at short notice.

Services running between Mallaig, Oban and Lochboisdale have been cancelled for the remainder of the day.

Ferries running between Berneray and Leverburgh, and Oban and Castlebay have also been cancelled.

CalMac said: “Cancelling a sailing is a decision we do not take lightly. We know it will inconvenience our customers and the communities we serve. However, the safety of our customers and crew must come first. 

“In this instance, the Master of the vessel has judged it is necessary in response to the assessment of adverse weather conditions.”

It comes as the Met Office issued a yellow weather warning for wind, which could reach up to 80mph in some areas on Wednesday and Thursday.

Parts of the country faced heavy downpours on Sunday, as a yellow weather warning for rain in force from 1pm until shortly before midnight. 

A yellow weather warning for wind in place from 10am on Wednesday until 7am on Thursday across most of Scotland could see gusts of up to 80mph could be recorded in some areas.

Forecasters said there is a small chance of injuries and danger to life from flying debris

Buildings may be damaged in the strong winds with tiles blown off roofs and large waves posing a threat to life in coastal areas. 

Motorists have been urged to take care, with ferry, rail and air links likely to be impacted. Mobile phone coverage may also be affected in some areas.

Insight Philip Petrie STV meteorologist

As we look ahead to the final week of September things are remaining unsettled with showers, longer spells of rain and often some quite strong winds.

Low Pressure is the dominating force as we head into the start of this week, bringing various bands of showers and rain through Monday and Tuesday, but then come Wednesday a very deep area of Low Pressure tracks in from the south west. This pressure system has very tightly packed isobars which means strong winds, gales and severe coastal gales. 

This is the reason the Met Office have decided to issue a yellow weather warning for Wind that runs from 10am Wednesday until 9am Thursday, making people aware and ready to expect gusts widely of 50-60mph and the possibility of 80-85mph along exposed coasts. 

This is the most likely outcome at the moment, but there is still some uncertainty of the precise tracking and depth of the Low Pressure.

The warning covers a large part of the country, stretching from the Highlands, Moray and Aberdeenshire down across Angus, Clackmannanshire, Fife, Dundee, Falkirk, Perth & Kinross, Stirling and then the whole of the central belt including Glasgow, Edinburgh, The Lothians, Renfrewshire, Ayrshire, Lanarkshire and Argyll & Bute. 

Along with the strong winds we will see heavy rain, particularly across western parts of the country, so a very stormy, blustery day to come midweek.

Thursday morning we get a brief respite, before things turn unsettled once again for the end of the week. 

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