Tag: Storm Eowyn

Recovering from Storm Éowyn

First Minister thanks people for patience as recovery operation continues

A further meeting of the Scottish Government’s Resilience Room (SGoRR) was chaired by First Minister John Swinney last night to coordinate the recovery response to Storm Éowyn.  

Due to the severity and impact of the storm, there is significant disruption to parts of the country. This includes around 35,000 properties without power and continued transport disruption with road closures and rail, bus, flight and ferry cancellations. It is expected to take some time to get all services fully restored.   

Utility companies, national agencies and local authorities are working at pace to restore power and assess the impact, including responding to significant damage, removing fallen trees and debris, to ensure services can fully resume in the coming days.   

The First Minister joined a Ministerial COBR meeting chaired by the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster Pat McFadden earlier on Saturday evening. The First Minister also spoke with the Prime Minister to discuss the ongoing response to Storm Éowyn and the impact on Scotland.

First Minister John Swinney said:  “I want to thank everyone who followed Police Scotland advice not to travel and express my sincere gratitude to the emergency services and to those working in the public, private and third sector who are continuing to support people and communities across the country.   

 “With yellow warnings in place for wind, snow and ice over the weekend, it is clear the severity of Storm Éowyn will continue into next week and this will have an impact on the speed at which utilities and local services can fully resume.  

 “Given the damage and disruption facing the network across the United Kingdom, utility companies are under significant pressure and are working in challenging conditions.

“I have stressed the importance of getting power restored as quickly as is practically possible and have been assured that assessments are being made at pace to ensure power is restored to affected properties in Scotland as soon as possible.

“Alongside our partners, Ministers are being updated regularly and ensuring all steps are being taken. 

“I am pleased at the progress made to restore power to many communities over the course of today however a significant number of properties remain without power. Utility companies are continuing to provide support to customers, including ensuring provisions are in place for the most vulnerable.   

“I want to thank people for their continued patience and encourage them to take extra care and look out for each other, particularly those who are supporting vulnerable neighbours and family members.  

“As we look ahead to Monday, partners are working at pace to ensure services can resume next week. Local authorities – who are responsible for school closures – will be working to ensure all buildings meet the required safety standards to reopen safely to pupils. We would expect decisions on schools to be clearly communicated by local authorities to parents, pupils and staff, with as much advance warning as possible, and would encourage all parents to follow that advice. 

 “People should prepare for continued disruption, especially in areas that have been impacted by a loss of power, and I encourage everyone to follow advice being issued by local authorities, as well as continuing to follow updates from national agencies.”  

  • SGoRR was attended by the Deputy First Minister Kate Forbes, Transport Secretary Fiona Hyslop, Justice and Home Affairs Secretary Angela Contance, Cabinet Secretary for Health and Social Care Neil Gray, Education Secretary Jenny Gilruth, Rural Affairs and Islands Secretary Mairi Gougeon, Acting Net Zero and Energy Secretary Gillian Martin and Cabinet Secretary for Constitution, External Affairs and Culture Angus Robertson. They were joined by representatives from the Met Office, Police Scotland, Transport Scotland, SEPA, transport and utilities companies and resilience partners.
  • The latest Met Office weather warnings are available on the Met Office website.
     
  • Flood alerts are issued by the Scottish Environmental Protection Agency and can be viewed on their website. 
  • Advice on preparing for severe weather can be found on the Ready Scotland website.

  • Follow Traffic Scotland for the most up-to-date information on the trunk roads throughout the warning periods, via their website, social media channels and radio broadcasts. Updates on ScotRail services and road conditions are available online. 
  • To report a power cut or damage to electricity power lines or substations call the SP Networks national Freephone number 105. More information on what to do during a storm can also be found on SP Energy Website.
  • During a power cut firefighters can be called to fires started by candles or portable heaters. For advice on how to stay safe during a power cut visit Scottish Fire and Rescue Website.   

Council: Bins will be collected over Sunday and Monday

We’ll start collecting wheelie bins on Sunday, but we expect delays.

If you were due a collection on Friday, put your bin, box and Christmas tree out on Saturday evening.

We’ll collect over Sun and Mon. We’ll get to them as soon as we can.

#StormEowyn

Storm Éowyn has passed through but disruption continues

MORE THAN 100,000 SCOTTISH HOMES ARE WITHOUT POWER

The Scottish Government’s Resilience Room (SGoRR) met again last night to co-ordinate the response to Storm Éowyn.

First Minister John Swinney chaired the meeting and has asked people to continue to follow Police Scotland advice and avoid travel in areas covered by the amber weather warning, which ran to 2300 in the southern half of Scotland and 0600 in the northern half.

Current impacts include:

  • Around 106,000 properties without power 
  • Continuing transport disruption with road closures and rail, bus, flight and ferry cancellations

First Minister John Swinney said last night: “Storm Éowyn continues to cause significant impacts on transport and power networks. Amber warnings for wind remain in place for much of the country, while there are warnings for wind, snow and ice tonight and tomorrow. 

“Across the area covered by the red warning road usage has been about 85% less than normal, and that is thanks to so many people heeding the advice not to travel.

“Police advice remains to avoid travel in areas covered by amber warnings, with wind particularly challenging for HGVs, and given the level of fallen trees and debris it will take some time for roads to fully reopen.

“Similarly, rail and air travel has been heavily impacted and people should check their planned journeys before setting off. This will not be a quick return to normal.

“Power cuts are affecting a significant number of properties, and while utilities companies are working hard to reconnect supply in the face of challenging conditions, this will undoubtedly take some time to complete. Companies are focused on supporting their most vulnerable customers and I’d urge everyone to be patient, take extra care and look out for each other.

“Given the levels of damage I expect the recovery and clear up operation will take some time, and I thank all of the emergency services and workers who are supporting people and dealing with this difficult situation.”

SGoRR was attended by the Deputy First Minister Kate Forbes, Transport Secretary Fiona Hyslop, Justice and Home Affairs Secretary Angela Constance, Cabinet Secretary for Health and Social Care Neil Gray; Education Secretary Jenny Gilruth, Rural Affairs and Islands Secretary Mairi Gougeon, Acting Net Zero and Energy Secretary Gillian Martin and Agriculture Minister Jim Fairlie.

They were joined by representatives from the Met Office, Police Scotland, Transport Scotland, SEPA, transport and utilities companies and resilience partners. 

The latest Met Office weather warnings are available on the Met Office website.  

Flood alerts are issued by the Scottish Environmental Protection Agency and can be viewed on their website.   

Advice on preparing for severe weather can be found on the Ready Scotland website.   

Follow Traffic Scotland for the most up-to-date information on the trunk roads throughout the warning periods, via their website, social media channels and radio broadcasts. Updates on ScotRail services and road conditions are available online.   

To report a power cut or damage to electricity power lines or substations call the SP Networks national Freephone number 105. More information on what to do during a storm can also be found on SP Energy Website. 

During a power cut firefighters can be called to fires started by candles or portable heaters. For advice on how to stay safe during a power cut visit Scottish Fire and Rescue Website.  

Severe weather expected across Scotland today

Storm Éowyn – Met Office red weather warnings

The First Minister has urged people to follow Police Scotland advice not to travel today (Friday 24 January).  

The Scottish Government’s Resilience Room (SGoRR) has been activated ahead of the red weather warning for wind from 1000 until 1700 today, covering parts of Dumfries & Galloway and the Scottish Borders, all of Strathclyde and the Lothians & Borders, as well as the Forth Valley and southern parts of Fife.

A wider amber warning for high winds covers much of Scotland and a yellow warning for snow in parts of Scotland has also been issued. 

Storm Éowyn will bring dangerous conditions and disruption throughout the country, including danger to life from flying debris, large waves and structural damage, such as roofs blown off and power lines brought down.  

Transport routes and travel services are expected to be affected for a prolonged period and while for individual local authorities to decide, a majority of schools are expected to be closed. NHS boards are standing up local business continuity arrangements. This will include communications with patients and staff. Some NHS and social care services are expected to be disrupted.

SGoRR met this afternoon to assess measures in place. It was chaired by First Minister John Swinney and attended by the Deputy First Minister, and Cabinet Secretaries for Health; Education; Transport; Finance and Local Government; Rural Affairs and Islands; and Net Zero and Energy. They were joined by representatives from the Met Office, Police Scotland, Transport Scotland, SEPA, transport and utilities companies and resilience partners.

First Minister John Swinney said: “The Met Office has, this morning, issued a very rare red weather warning for Storm Éowyn tomorrow. Their advice is clear that potential impacts include danger to life, structural damage to property, and transport and power disruptions.   

“Police Scotland have made it clear that people should not travel in affected areas, and local services including schools are likely to be significantly impacted.

“The government, of course, is ready to respond. SGORR – our resilience and emergency system – was activated this morning to co-ordinate help and to support Scotland’s front-line responders, including police fire services and the ambulance service.   

“Red weather warnings like this are very rare. Our message is simple, please follow the advice from the Met Office and the police.

“Please look out for each other and your neighbours during this time. Take this seriously and stay safe.”  

Chief Superintendent Hilary Sloan Head of Police Scotland Road Policing said: “Our advice throughout the duration of the red weather warning is not to travel, as the conditions outside and on the road network could be extremely hazardous and put you at risk.  

“Please keep tuning into media broadcasts and following updates from Traffic Scotland and Police Scotland until the weather has improved.” 

Met Office Chief Meteorologist Paul Gundersen said: “We reserve the issuing of Red Warnings for the most severe weather which represents a likely danger to life and severe disruption, and that is the case with Storm Éowyn.  

“While it will be widely very windy on Friday, with additional hazards from rain and snow, the strongest winds and most significant impacts are likely in Northern Ireland and central and southwestern parts of Scotland within the Red Warning areas, where winds could gust 80-90 mph quite widely for a time, and potentially up to 100 mph for exposed coasts in particular.  

“Storm Éowyn is a multi-hazard event, with snow likely for some, rain for many and strong winds for much of the UK. As a result, a number of weather warnings have been issued, with all parts of the UK covered by one warning at some point on Friday.”  

Advice on preparing for severe weather can be found on the Ready Scotland website.  

The latest Met Office weather warnings are available on the Met Office website. For Scotland, these include:  

Flood alerts are issued by the Scottish Environmental Protection Agency and can be viewed on their website.  

Follow Traffic Scotland for the most up-to-date information on the trunk roads throughout the warning periods, via their website, social media channels and radio broadcasts. Updates on ScotRail services and road conditions are available online.  

To report a power cut or damage to electricity power lines or substations call the SP Networks national Freephone number 105. More information on what to do during a storm can also be found on SP Energy Website. 

STORM EOWYN: BATTEN DOWN THE HATCHES AS RED ALERT DECLARED

SCOTLAND SHUTTING DOWN

The Met Office has issued a red weather warning for wind from 10am to 5pm Friday 24 January. An Amber warning is in place from 6am to 10am.

COUNCIL SERVICES:

We will publish all the latest information about Council buildings and services on this page.

Schools, nurseries and early years

All Council schools, nurseries and early years settings will be closed on Friday 24 January. Schools will communicate directly with parents.

Bin collections 

Bin collections – residents should not put their wheelie bins and boxes out for collection tomorrow. Friday collections will run over the weekend instead.

Residents should put their bins out for collection on Saturday when it is safe to do so for collection from Sunday. 

Street cleansing will not operate.

Recycling centres – any bookings for recycling centres will be rescheduled 

Special uplift services – residents who have booked a collection for tomorrow should not put the items out for collection. Appointments will be rebooked.  

Housing and homelessness

Anyone who needs to present as homeless should contact us by phone on 0131 529 7036.  

Only emergency council house repairs will take place. Non-emergency council house repairs will be cancelled and re-scheduled. 

Scaffolding will be checked and taken down if possible.  

Council buildings, services and parks

We will only run essential services on Friday 24 January.

The following buildings or parks/grounds will be closed on Friday 24 January:

  • The Registrars Office 
  • All council cemeteries, Mortonhall Crematorium, and the Mortuary
  • All museums, galleries, monuments and cultural venues (Usher Hall, Assembly Rooms, Churchill Theatre – this includes cancellation of a rehearsal and performance at the Churchill Theatre).  Building checks will be carried out before reopening.
  • Lauriston Castle grounds and Princes Street Gardens. These will also remain closed on Saturday due to extended wind warning and time needed to survey grounds.
  • Ukraine Welcome Hub at Flassches Yard.

Travel disruption

Police Scotland has issued a ‘do not travel’ notice. Police Scotland travel advice 

Lothian Buses expect significant disruption to their services and customers are advised to check the status of their service before travelling. 

Scot Rail is suspending all train services tomorrow and there will be no alternative transport available. 

For travel updates check @edintravel and @TrafficScotland on X (Twitter) as well as your travel provider.

Emergency social care service 0800 731 6969 – free phone.

NHS LOTHIAN:

EDINBURGH TRAMS:

Due to the red weather warning in place across Edinburgh tomorrow due to #StormÉowyn, Edinburgh Trams will be operating a reduced service on Friday 24 January. We will be monitoring wind speeds at key places on the track and will continue to operate in order to facilitate essential travel as long as it remains safe to do so.

Please follow @PoliceScotland guidelines and only travel if absolutely necessary.

Customers are advised to check the status of their service before travelling on Friday and Saturday, using the Bus & Tram App.

More information: https://bit.ly/3Wx6TMq

LOTHIAN BUSES

CUSTOMER INFORMATION

Service Updates

http://lothianbuses.com/service-updates/… Bus & Tram App

http://lothianbuses.com/app/