Ferry services cancelled as high winds sweep Scotland

A number of ferry services have been cancelled and flood alerts issued across Scotland, with heavy rain and high winds sweeping the country.

The Met Office reported that Saturday would be another windy day across the UK, especially in Scotland, with the west being cloudier and seeing further spells of heavy rain.

While a number of ferry services are already cancelled due to the coronavirus pandemic, at least three Caledonian MacBrayne (CalMac) routes have fallen victim to the weekend weather conditions.

All Saturday sailings between Ardrossan and Brodick have been called off, as well as services between Oban, Coll and Tiree.

The ferry between Tarbert and Lochranza was also cancelled due to “winds in excess of 45mph”.

Numerous other services were given yellow warnings by CalMac, meaning they are “liable to disruption or cancellation at short notice”.

Although the Met Office has not yet given any warnings, the Scottish Environment Protection Agency (SEPA) issued flood alerts for five areas of Scotland from Friday evening to early on Sunday morning.

The areas affected include Argyll and Bute; Easter Ross and Great Glen; Findhorn, Nairn, Moray and Speyside; Skye and Lochaber; and Wester Ross.

The warnings stated: “Persistent and at times heavy rain is expected to affect mainly western parts of the area from late Friday through until early on Sunday morning.

“Localised flooding of low-lying land and roads is possible, with standing water and difficult driving conditions likely.

“River flooding from smaller watercourses is possible and by the end of Saturday some of the larger rivers are likely to be high.

“Sepa will continue to monitor the situation and further updates will appear here if the situation changes.”

Rail services in Glasgow were also affected, with a tree branch being caught on the overhead electrical wires.

A Network Rail team was sent to Pollokshields East to sort the issue, which delayed several Saturday morning trains.

Operator ScotRail also tweeted a warning that high tides are expected at Saltcoats, with affected services between Glasgow Central and Ardrossan Harbour and Largs terminating and starting from Kilwinning instead.