Minister accused of being 'all at sea' over flooding prevention as Storm Gerrit clean up continues

Thousands still without power after flooding, blizzards and gales batter country

The Scottish Government has urged to “get a handle” on flood protection schemes across the country, amid criticism that the vast majority of the major infrastructure projects remain under construction or development, years after they were due to have been completed.

Figures released by the Scottish Liberal Democrats warn that just 15 of the 42 formal flood protection schemes identified for delivery between 2015 and 2021 have been completed to date, with costs spiralling by as much as 1000 per cent in some cases.

However, Scotland’s net zero secretary said the government had committed an additional £150 million for improved flood resilience measures, and stressed that such major initiatives required “careful and thorough” planning to ensure they deliver for communities at risk.

It comes as swaths of the country continue to count the cost of Storm Gerrit, which caused significant flooding in parts of Fife and Dumfries, along with blizzards and heavy rainfall causing widespread disruption across the nation’s rail and road networks.

Rail services north of Dundee and Perth were still closed on Thursday as the major clean up operation continued, with around thousands homes still without power. Scottish and Southern Electricity Networks (SSEN) said its workers had been dealing with wind speeds of 80 mph in some coastal areas as they worked to reconnect customers, but power outages across parts of the country were expected to roll into Friday.

The impact of Gerrit, coupled with the flooding caused by Storm Babet in October, has led to renewed scrutiny of Scotland’s preparedness for such extreme weather events, with Beatrice Wishart, the rural affairs spokeswoman for the Lib Dems, stressing that much more needs to be done.

She pointed out that out of the 42 flood protection schemes identified for delivery between 2015 and 2021, only 15 have been completed. Five of the schemes are currently under construction, with a further 18 still at the confirmation or development stage.

Kinloss Park resident Andrew McIntosh looks through his damaged belongings. Picture: Lisa Ferguson Parts of CupaR were hit badly, the River Eden burst its banks and Kinloss Park residents houses were flooded by the Ladyburn over flowing also

Ms Wishart also pointed to figures revealed through parliamentary questions which show major cost overruns in several projects, including Grangemouth, where the bill has jumped from £111.5m to £420m, Musselburgh, up from £8.9m to £97.9m, and Hawick, where costs have more than doubled from £37.4m to £78.6m.

She said: “Across Scotland, communities are facing the devastating impact of major weather events. These figures show that the Scottish Government is all at sea when it comes to building up our flood defences.

“When it comes to major storms, an ounce of prevention can be worth a pound of cure but dozens of prospective projects are unfinished and the costs are also going through the roof. The Scottish Government needs to get a handle on these projects before they run out of all

control.”

Parts of Cupar were hit badly by flooding during Storm Gerrit, with the River Eden bursting its banks. Picture: Lisa Ferguson

“The Scottish Liberal Democrats have consistently called for a new Climate Emergency Communities Fund with the clear objective of upgrading Scotland’s homes, businesses and infrastructure to cope with the impact of the climate emergency. We want to make sure that local authorities have the resources they need to protect our communities and ensure that these projects are delivered.”

However, Mairi McAllan, the net zero secretary, said: “This year’s extreme weather events, such as Storm Babet, have underlined the need to think strategically about Scotland’s flooding future. It is imperative that we are flood resilient in a changing climate, which includes the potential impacts of sea level rise.

“We have committed an additional £150m in this parliament to deliver improved flood resilience. This is in addition to the £42m we provide annually to councils for flood resilience through the general capital grant.”

She added: “Local authorities are responsible for commissioning and delivering flood protection schemes. Such schemes can have impacts on individuals, communities and the environment, and so require careful and thorough planning to ensure that they deliver for local communities. Like all major infrastructure projects, it can take many years for flood schemes to progress from initial option appraisal to final completion.

“The Scottish Government and COSLA have set up a Flood Risk Management Working Group with local authorities, and we will continue to discuss funding and governance arrangements for improving flood resilience.”

Meanwhile, as clean up operation from Storm Gerrit continued at pace, SSEN said that as of 4.45pm on Thursday, supplies have been successfully restored to more than 40,000 customers, with just over 2,900 properties currently off supply. These are mainly due to faults which occurred later on Wednesday and in the early hours of Thursday morning.

Andy Smith, Operations Director at SSEN Distribution, said: “We’ve made the most of a lull in the stormy weather today to get thousands of our customers reconnected. This has been a difficult couple of days for the communities affected, and I’m grateful to them for their patience and support as our teams work extremely hard to restore power.

“We’ve targeted our restoration plan on repairing the faults that will reconnect the greatest number of customers, and those who have been without power the longest. Where there are complex repairs or very localised faults, we expect around 1,500 homes will be without power until Friday. I’d like to reassure our customers that all our resources have been made available for this final push.

“Our established welfare policy is active, offering reimbursement for meals and accommodation, for those who’re eligible, and we’re speaking to our most vulnerable customers to offer them tailored support. Anyone who may need additional help or advice should contact our dedicated teams on the power cut helpline, 105.”

As the reconnection work continued, there were also questions around whether the warnings issued to the public were sufficient, given the scale of the damage and the disruption experienced.

David Duguid, the Conservative MP for Banff and Buchan, said he had doubts over whether the weather warnings published by the Met Office took account of the extreme conditions, writing on X: “I’m usually quite appreciative of Met Office announcements and regularly share weather warnings. However, the effect of the weather in North East Scotland in [the] last 24 hours has felt far more serious than ‘yellow.’ Many of my constituents asking why this wasn’t amber.”

However, the Met Office said the warning was not raised to amber because “the likelihood of disruption on a county scale remained too low to escalate until a very short lead time,” adding: “Once impacts were observed the benefit of escalation would have been very limited as emergency services were already responding to the situation. We will review the efficiency of the warnings as part of this event as usual in the coming days.”