Storm Amy: 42,000 without power as travel chaos continues across Scotland

Latest updates

SSEN has said it is still working to reconnect power to 42,000 customers
Over 170 incidents reported on Scotland’s railway as disruption set to continue
Irish police say a man has died in a ‘weather-related’ incident in County Donegal
The north of Scotland faces a new amber warning for potentially life-threatening winds with gusts of more than 90mph
The Met Office has released a yellow weather warning for wind covering the whole of the UK
Further travel disruption is likely to follow after several flights, rail and ferry services were cancelled
A building collapsed in Glasgow on Friday, falling onto a car, and leading to road closures in the city centre

More than 60,000 homes are without power as Storm Amy continues to batter Scotland with widespread travel disruption and flooding.

Wind gusts in excess of 100 mph have damaged power supplies, brought down trees and strewn debris across roads and properties.

The north of Scotland faces a new amber warning for “damaging” winds with gusts of more than 90mph in some areas.

Most of Scotland, apart from the east coast, will be covered by a yellow warning for rain while a yellow wind alert will be in place across the entire UK.

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Storm Amy: What can we expect overnight?

Weather warnings for Storm Amy on Saturday STV News

As of 7.30am on Saturday, 62,000 homes are without power, Scottish and Southern Electricity Networks said.

The electricity company said it had restored supplies to 16,500 as engineers worked overnight to combat the havoc wreaked by the first named storm of the season.

However, with further high winds expected, SSEN warned further disruption was expected.

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Building collapses and crushes car as Storm Amy batters Scotland

“The impact of these ongoing, forecast storm-force winds is two-fold; they will cause further disruption to the network today, and they may make it too dangerous to safely work at height to repair faults caused by last night’s winds,” a spokesperson said.

“We ask that if they come across any damaged network equipment, that they stay back and call us immediately on 105, and we’ll investigate.”

Work is underway to repair “extensive” damage to the railway network, with more than 170 separate incidents reported.

Network Rail said the storm’s impact hit harder than expected, with additional routes forced to shut around Glasgow and the south west.

A number of lines have been inspected and reopened, while some are due to remain closed until Sunday.

The West Highland Line, Oban/Crainlarich/Fort William/Mallaig and Inverness/Wick/Kyle line will remain closed.

ScotRail is working rto einstate Inverness/Aberdeen, Glasgow Queen Street/Alloa, Largs/Glasgow Central, Motherwell/Rutherglen via Wishaw and Glasgow Central/ Carlisle/ Dumfries

Irish police said a man died in a “weather-related” incident in the Letterkenny area of County Donegal, Republic of Ireland shortly after 4.15pm on Friday.

Tree has fallen at Drumchapel train station. Network Rail Scotland

A building collapsed in Glasgow on Friday, falling onto a car, and leading to road closures in the city centre.

In Cumbernauld, the roof was blown off a block of flats – a year after a roof on the same row was torn off by Storm Isha.

The roof on Ashiestiel Place was left hanging over the side of the building after strong winds.

Roof torn off building on Ashiestiel Place STV News

Road closures also impacted drivers, and the Forth Road Bridge was shut to all traffic.

Glasgow & West

Building collapses and crushes car as Storm Amy batters Scotland

The Broomielaw was closed to all traffic between York Street and Oswald Street.

The Tay Road Bridge reopened early on Saturday with a 30mph speed restriction and remained closed to high-sided vehicles, as were the Skye Bridge, Queensferry Crossing and Clackmannanshire Bridge.

CalMac Ferries said it expected many services to be disrupted on Saturday, with many routes cancelled, and into Sunday.

The Scottish Government urged people to delay travel if they can and to check ahead if heading out.

On Sunday, the north, north-east, Orkney and Shetlands islands will also continue to fall under a yellow warning for wind until 9am that morning.

Mark Ilderton, ScotRail service delivery director, said there will be “considerable disruption” to train services on Saturday.

He said: “We’re sorry to customers who have been impacted by the disruption caused by Storm Amy.

Flooding on the railway line at Bowling. Network Rail Scotland

“Network Rail and ScotRail teams will work flat out to recover services as quickly as possible, but considerable disruption will continue through Saturday morning.

“We’re advising customers to check their journey before they travel via the ScotRail website, mobile app, or social media feeds.”

Network Rail said the storm had a greater impact than predicted.

Tree on the line between Alloa and Stirling. Network Rail Scotland

The transport organisation said: “Storm Amy has hit parts of the country much harder and more quickly than expected.

“We have experienced over 60 incidents on the network during the first two hours of the storm, with flooding, trees falling on to the overhead lines and debris on the tracks.

“The safety of passengers and colleagues is priority, which is why all services to and from Glasgow Central have been suspended at this time.

“We have crews out surveying damage where it is safe to do so and we will do our best to clear lines overnight, but we do expect some disruption tomorrow morning.

“We apologise to people who were wishing to travel tonight and now need to make alternative arrangements.”