Storm Eowyn: Red Wind Warning

Police ask public to avoid travel with widespread disruption expected

Widespread disruption to the transport network is expected on Friday, following an upgraded red warning for wind from the Met Office for Storm Eowyn.

Police Scotland are advising people to avoid travel in the areas affected by the red warning and to expect a high risk of disruption in the areas affected by the wider amber warning for wind.  

The red warning for wind will run from 10am on Friday 24th January until 5pm that evening, covering parts of Dumfries & Galloway and the Scottish Borders, all of Strathclyde and the Lothians & Borders, as well as southern parts of Fife and the Forth Valley. The wider amber warning for high winds and a yellow warning for snow still remain in place.

The conditions are set to cause widespread disruption to transport, with the potential for inland gusts of up to 90mph, and winds of over 100mph on exposed coasts and hills, especially in the west.

You should expect lengthy journey delays, bridge closures and cancellation of services on the rail, ferry and aviation networks. The conditions could also lead to fallen trees, flying debris, damage to infrastructure and widespread disruption to power supplies.

The Transport Scotland Resilience Room and the Multi-Agency Response Team is operational to closely monitor the conditions, with Traffic Scotland providing regular updates via their social media channels, website and radio broadcasts.

The Scottish Government Resilience Room (SGORR) will also be active during the period of the weather warnings.  Scottish Government officials will continue to monitor the situation and work with frontline agencies to mitigate the impacts of the severe weather.

Cabinet Secretary for Transport Fiona Hyslop said:

“The Met Office has upgraded their weather warnings for Storm Eowyn to the highest level, which means there will be widespread disruption to the transport network.

“I would urge people to follow police advice and avoid travel in the area affected by the red warning for wind. If you do need to travel, your journey is likely to be badly disrupted and there will likely be cancellations to rail, ferry and air services.

“Traffic Scotland will provide the most up-to-date information on the trunk roads throughout the warning periods, via their website, social media channels and radio broadcasts.

“The conditions will inevitably cause major disruption to rail, ferry and aviation services too, so please contact your operator to see if your journey has been affected.”