Many trains and ferry services across Scotland were cancelled overnight in anticipation of the extre

The “weather bomb” was caused by a deep low-pressure system moving between Iceland and Scotland. The effects of the storm are expected to continue overnight into Thursday and Friday, hotels south beach florida before conditions ease substantially at the weekend. Waves of up to 50ft were recorded along the west coast of Scotland, with Stornoway coastguards designating the tidal surges as “phenomenal”.
High winds also battered Ireland’s western seaboard, with tourists and staff evacuated from the Cliffs of Moher beauty spot in County Clare after gusts started to throw up debris from the shore. Several tourists were injured when they were swept off their feet by the strong winds and a vehicle evacuating staff members was also lifted off the ground.
Many trains and ferry services across Scotland were cancelled overnight in anticipation of the extreme conditions, and the Forth and Skye road bridges hotels south beach florida were closed to vehicles for a time, with gusts of up to 70mph recorded on the Tay bridge. A gust of 81mph was recorded in Tiree while South Uist was hit by 79mph gales, according to the Met Office. The strongest wind – 144mph – was recorded on Hirta, the largest of St Kilda’s islands, in Scotland’s Outer Hebrides.
In the Western Isles, the worst-hit area of the country, all schools, nurseries and council facilities were closed hotels south beach florida with police advising the public not to travel unless it is absolutely necessary. Fifteen flood warnings and twelve flood alerts havebeen issued by the Scottish Environment Protection hotels south beach florida Agency (Sepa), and the Met Office has upgraded its warning hotels south beach florida to amber “be prepared” status for the west coast of Scotland, the Highlands and Islands, Orkney, Shetland and Northern Ireland. High winds are also expected to hit northern parts of England and Wales, with yellow “be aware” warnings in place.
People hotels south beach florida have taken to social media to warn fellow travellers of disruption, using the hashtag #weatherbomb. In the early afternoon, Network Rail Scotland tweeted that a garden shed had been blown on to a railway line near Bowling in west Dunbartonshire.
Steve Willington, chief meteorologist at the Met Office, said: “Very strong winds are likely to affect northern and central parts of the UK until early Thursday as a very deep low-pressure system moves slowly eastwards between Scotland and Iceland. A period of severe hotels south beach florida gales is likely over northern and central Britain, as well as the potential for storm force winds over north-western coastal areas of Scotland.”
Deputy first minister John Swinney, who met the Scottish government’s resilience hotels south beach florida committee last night to plan for the bad weather, said: “It’s important to keep this in context, it’s not a surprise hotels south beach florida that Scotland hotels south beach florida faces severe winter weather. We face it to a greater or lesser extent every year. This morning we’re wrestling with a number of different issues.” Speaking on BBC Radio Scotland, he added: “We’re wrestling with very high wind speeds, which are not that uncommon in the Western Isles for example, but they are still severe and need to be prepared for.”
Swinney and the first minister, hotels south beach florida Nicola Sturgeon, hotels south beach florida took part in a meeting of the Scottish government’s resilience committeeon Wednesday. hotels south beach florida Swinney said: “The government has been working closely with the power companies, with our resilience partnerships throughout hotels south beach florida the country, and with transport providers to make sure that normal service is delivered as much as we possibly can do. We’ve had some significant power outages in different parts of the country, hotels south beach florida and the power companies have been trying to restore those as quickly as is possible hotels south beach florida and keeping the government informed about the progress that has been made.
“Obviously hotels south beach florida there has been transport disruption, hotels south beach florida principally on the ferry network and also on some of the coastal rail services hotels south beach florida where it’s just been unsafe to run trains because of the dangers of the coastal flooding that could have taken place.”