Bad hair day for Edinburgh castle and Camilla

Published on Wednesday 25 November 2009 22:04

FROM its lofty position, Edinburgh Castle has seen off many an attack over the centuries. But yesterday, the famous fortress was forced to surrender.

Faced with the combined forces of wind and rain, and possibly retaliation from health and safety regulations, staff decided not to open its doors to visitors.

The highly unusual decision came as gusts of nearly 50mph battered the capital and there were fears the wintry blasts could cause damage or injure pedestrians hit by flying debris.

A spokesman for Historic Scotland said: "The castle did not open, which is a rare occurrence, but it was due to strong winds and its exposed position. The only reason we close is for health and safety."

The wind also caused some right royal problems for the normally impeccably coiffured Camilla, Duchess of Cornwall.

Emerging from the BBC studios in London where she was attending an awards ceremony for food producers, she was caught by a sudden gust which sent royal aides searching for the hairspray.

North of the Border, many parts took another pounding from heavy rain and strong winds yesterday. Ferries were cancelled, roads flooded and restrictions imposed on bridges.

Last night, the Scottish Environment Protection Agency (Sepa) had six flood warnings and 15 flood watches in place.

A gust of 83mph was recorded yesterday morning on the Tay road bridge, which was closed to high-sided vehicles, as were the Skye, Kessock and Forth road bridges.

Only two of 26 ferry services run by Caledonian MacBrayne were running normally, with the rest cancelled or disrupted, while P&O services were delayed between Larne and Cairnryan.

Flood warnings remained in place for the Tay, Lyon, Tummel, Teith and Earn.

Meanwhile, a woman trapped in her house near Dumfries for almost a week because of flooding does not expect to be freed until tomorrow. Mary Flint, 57, was initially cut off from her home in Holywood when she returned from work last Friday. The only access was covered in water. She could not get a car through, but hitched a lift on a farmer's tractor – and was subsequently marooned.

"We haven't been short of provisions, but I've been stuck here ever since," she said.

Her husband, Gordoun, 53, an engineer, who works in Workington, Cumbria, was also stranded.

Elsewhere, the rescue of an injured seaman off the Outer Hebrides had to be suspended because of extreme weather. The 19-year-old, with ankle and back injuries, was aboard the Inverness-registered trawler Adventurer 11, which was 87 miles west of Lewis and was being battered by 33ft seas.

After the trawler moved to more sheltered conditions, a helicopter returned to airlift the man to hospital.