Brace yourself for a wild weekend
Gritters were out on the roads today
GALE-force winds, storms and heavy snow are expected to cause disruption as they batter parts of Scotland this weekend.
One of the warmest Novembers on record is set to draw to a close with blizzard conditions.
Severe weather warnings have been issued for southern Scotland, parts of the north-west and the far north.
People have been told to brace themselves today for gusts of up to 70mph and heavy rain.
The conditions are expected to cause some surface flooding and travel disruption. There are also due to be fresh falls of snow on higher ground.
A spokesman for the Met Office said: “The risk of some very strong winds starts as of mid-morning and will go through until Sunday, when it will start to tail off.
“These are storm-force gusts. There’s the potential for damage and disruption from these sort of winds, but they are quite normal for this time of year.
“It’s caused by an autumnal storm which is passing to the north of Scotland, but as it goes past it’s bringing these winds and rain with it. We are also expecting heavy showers.”
Already there have been large falls of snow on high ground and more is expected over the coming week, although lower areas are unlikely to turn white yet, according to the Met Office, in marked contrast to last year.
And parts of the country, particularly the Western Isles, have already been battered by storms.
The independent weather station at Eoropie on Lewis recorded hurricane winds of 85mph on Thursday night. The gusts were so strong some of the recording equipment blew away.
Station owner John Gray said: “I’ve lived here for 13 years and I have never seen much lightning. There was lightning here last night. It was so bright and strong.”
In Orkney, Burray and Hope primary schools were closed yesterday during high winds.
More than a dozen ferry services run by Caledonian MacBrayne have either been cancelled or disrupted. Western Isles Council warned there was a continued risk of flooding from spray and large breakers during high tide and called on the public to be vigilant.
The Scottish Environment Protection Agency has issued flood alerts for Orkney, Shetland, Skye and Lochaber, the Western Isles and Wester Ross.
Also at risk are Argyll and Bute, Caithness and Sutherland and Dumfries and Galloway.
Chris Burton, a forecaster with MeteoGroup, the weather division of the Press Association, said: “Storm-force winds will be caused by a strong depression to the north of Scotland. These winds are more commonly found further out at sea.”
Scotland’s biggest ski centre, Cairngorm, has already had a significant snowfall, with a couple of inches as far down the hill as the Coire Cas car park. Snowploughs were called out for the first time this season to clear the access road. Spokesman Colin Kirkwood said: “This will whet the appetite for the slopes. We are all ready to open when we get enough snow, and that could come later next week.”
Meanwhile, provisional figures suggest the UK could have experienced its second mildest November on record, and its second or third mildest autumn.
The average temperature in Scotland for 1-23 November was 8C, which is 3.3C higher than the long-term average, according to the Met Office.
In contrast, last year the average temperature in Scotland for November was 2.8C – which is significantly lower than normal.
“We are certainly seeing some quite stark differences from one year to the next,” a Met Office spokesman said.
The warm conditions this year have led to reports of flowers blooming early and even ducklings being born.
Email to a friend
Print this page- Family mourn death of Glasgow ‘fight’ schoolboy
- Rangers takeover: Duff & Phelps threaten legal action against BBC
- Today’s youth not fit to be employed, says car firm Arnold Clark
- Rangers administration: Fans fear Duff & Phelps claims could scare off Green
- Rangers takeover: triple penalty punishment enough, says Johnston
- Alistair Darling leads ‘No to independence’ fight over tea and biscuits
- Scottish independence: SNP flip-flops over Nato
- Scottish Independence: SNP ‘won’t be Yes campaign’s only voice’
- Scottish independence: Alex Salmond’s pledge to sign up 1m voters
- Today’s youth not fit to be employed, says car firm Arnold Clark
Looking for...
Featured advertisers
Jobs
Search for a job
Motors
Search for a car
Property
Search for a house
Weather for Edinburgh
Sunday 27 May 2012
Today
Sunny
Temperature: 10 C to 22 C
Wind Speed: 12 mph
Wind direction: North east
Tomorrow
Sunny
Temperature: 9 C to 21 C
Wind Speed: 12 mph
Wind direction: North east
Comments
There are 29 comments to this article
Page 1 of 2
Tartancult
Saturday, November 26, 2011 at 09:24 PMI am going to go out on a limb here and predict that next year at this time the headline will read "Brace yourself for a wild weekend".
Libra Personified
Saturday, November 26, 2011 at 08:11 PMOh dear - the big stiff brush out the back of my wee humble abode has blown over. Time to tie the wheely bin to the nearest lampost. Is it yon time of the year approaching again? Still using the supplementary heat and light from the candles as opposed to paying the heat and light bills under the union and it's nearly December.
Ron Greer
Saturday, November 26, 2011 at 05:10 PMRemember all extreme weather events are caused by anthropogenic CO2 and only a massive amount of wind turbines will change things for the better.
Willie Boy
Saturday, November 26, 2011 at 04:19 PMAnd here was me believing Lord John Krebs when he recently said that winter deaths would fall because of climate warming. And is this the same man that thinks fuel poverty doesn't exist in Jockland. Ah, just another Oxford educated colonial master telling the natives a story to placate them. God bless the House of Lords
Goodbye London Labour
Saturday, November 26, 2011 at 03:38 PMWild weekend? It's 15C in Aberdeen just now. No doubt that will appear as 8C on the EBC weather chart.
scully
Saturday, November 26, 2011 at 01:28 PMThe only nice thing about snow is it makes everthing nice and white and clean looking..The danger is you will not see the potholes., Big garage bills.
coby66
Saturday, November 26, 2011 at 11:12 AMI'm about to depart on my 3 mile walk to work. :( However, Looking out of the window, I note the wind will be at my back. True enough that it's an ill wind...etc.
Annie Baird
Saturday, November 26, 2011 at 10:47 AMOK so its a bit windy, a few showers about... Its late November FFS, its seasonal ! And temperatures at 10AM are still above the avearge for the time of year as Martin H pointed out, These readings below were taken at 10AM, so its another day where we're heading for 12 or 13c generally.. _________________________________________________________ Aberdeen 10.4C, Aviemore 9.7C, Edinburgh 10.7C, Glasgow 10.2c, Lerwick 7.3C, Stornaway 11.5c
trenchchat
Saturday, November 26, 2011 at 10:02 AMI blame Gordon Brown. It's all the fault of Labour. If Scotland was independent we would not have snow at this time of the year.
Rab haw
Saturday, November 26, 2011 at 09:54 AMAt this rate this poll will indicate that the Scotsman has over 100,000 followers on here.
Rab haw
Saturday, November 26, 2011 at 09:26 AMRadar just voted about 10 times cannot be bothered to do any more so obviously Charles has been voting all night to fix the result !. This poll is a nonsense.
radar
Saturday, November 26, 2011 at 08:41 AMAt 11.20pm last night , I had a look at the results of the Sectarianism bill poll run by the Scotsman(top right hand of this page). It showed over 3,000 in favour, and about 1,200 against - 71% versus 29%. Just checked it again at 8.35 am. Nearlt 2,000 votes for the 'no' option hae been recorded overnight ! How fixed is that ?
Martin H
Saturday, November 26, 2011 at 08:26 AMWinter, what winter? Currently 50oF (10oC) in Edinburgh, clear sky but a bit blowy. The extended autumn continues.
Ancient Wisdom
Saturday, November 26, 2011 at 08:22 AMWinter approaching Bad weather approaching? News?
Pedantic
Saturday, November 26, 2011 at 07:10 AM9 Kinghob, what are you slavering on about?
Page 1 of 2
Your view
Please sign in to be able to comment on this story.