Work is under way to try and save an ancient sycamore tree in Glasgow after it was destroyed by Storm Eowyn.
Half of the Darnley Sycamore was torn off as Scotland faced life-threatening hurricane-force winds and a rare red weather warning on Friday.
According to legend, Henry Stuart, Lord Darnley and his wife, Mary Stuart, Queen of Scots, sat under the tree while she nursed him back to health after an illness.
The tree, which is protected by a fence and fitted with a plaque, is believed to be around 450 years old.
Glasgow City Council said it has no plans to remove the tree, which appears to be in better condition that it might look.
STV NewsSeamus Connolly, the local authority’s group manager for Green Space and Biodiversity, said the extent of the tree’s damage is “dramatic”.
“There has been significant damage to the limbs, however, tree inspectors went up in the hoist and it’s in better condition than we thought,” he said.
Mr Connolly said the council will remove unsafe branches from the tree and continue to review it over the next three or four years.
“We have no plans to remove the tree, we think the tree is still in a healthy condition, notwithstanding the damage, and we still think there are decades ahead of the tree to be in Darnley,” he added.
STV NewsDescribing the clean-up operation following Storm Eowyn, Mr Connolly said council tree surgeons had been out removing trees and making areas safe since Friday and asked for the public’s patience.
“Today, we have over 800 trees that are being dealt with, and teams have been working tirelessly dealing various trees that have fallen on pathways, landing on houses, cars and across our school estate,” he said.
Mr Connolly said he had never seen anything like the scale of Storm Eowyn in his time.
STV News“There was a storm in 2011 that was quite bad, I think we’ll be seeing a lot more storms like this due to climate change,” he said.
He added that the council has an action plan to counteract the damage.
“We’ve got a tree action plan where we plant thousands of trees each year across our council estate, and that’s an ongoing ten-year plan.
“Last year, we planted 24,000 trees, and we’re hoping to reach those sorts of numbers again this year.”
He added that it is part of a whole variety of initiatives being implemented across the council.
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