RECAP Storm Ciarán: Disruption continues across Scotland's railway line following signal outage
Travel disruption continues at Scotland's railway due to a major signal outage on Thursday afternoon in the Edinburgh area which left hundreds of passengers stranded for hours. Follow here for more updates on travel and weather today.
RECAP Storm Ciarán: Disruption continues across Scotland's railway line following signal outage
Key Events
- Travel delays and disruption continue across Scotland's railway after major signal fault
- Met Office yellow weather warning for rain in place for north east
- LNER strongly advises passengers against travel on Friday following major signal outage
What weather warnings are still in place?
Rain
- A yellow warning in north-east England and eastern Scotland is in place until 06:00 tomorrow. The Met Office says there is a small chance homes and businesses could be flooded.
- Two yellow warnings for London and parts of south-east England, south-west England and Wales until midnight tonight. There is a small chance of flooding here too.
Wind
- A yellow warning in London and parts of southern and eastern England until 17:00 today. The Met Office said damage to buildings and injuries from flying debris were possible.
- Outside of the warnings for the UK, a red warning - the highest level - has also been issued by the Jersey Met for today.
Annual fireworks display cancelled due to weather
Hopetoun House fireworks and bonfire night has been cancelled.
The event was due to take place in the grounds of the country house near South Queensferry on Saturday.
A statement from organisers released on social media read: "Due to unexpected circumstances beyond our control - storm Ciaran and the associated significant rainfall - the estate grounds at Hopetoun are not in a viable condition to host large gatherings of people.
"Sadly, that means that we are not able to proceed with our annual Hopetoun ireworks and bonfire night this Saturday 4th November.
Scotland's west coast enjoys sunshine while the east still feels the impact of Storm Ciaran
Here is one of the latest photos of the current storm from space shared by the Met Office:
What are the Storm names for 2023/24?
As Scotland battens down the hatches for more stormy weather we look at the other names that will be bringing wind, rain and snow in the months to come.
Read this story to see the 21 names chosen this year - including Hamish and Stuart:
Teams from Scotland called to assist power outages south of the border as thousands remain without power
Nearly 20,000 homes across the UK are without power.
Emergency teams from Scotland and Isle of Man have been called to strategic locations in the south of England to assist.
The Energy Networks Association (ENA) - which represents energy companies - says 107,000 properties had power restored "in very challenging conditions" - and as of midday, 19,800 customers were still without power.
Loganair flights to Edinburgh have been cancelled
Flights with airline Loganair have been heavily disrupted due to Storm Ciaran.
Flights due to leave this afternoon from Newquay, Southampton and Sumburgh to Edinburgh have all been cancelled.
There have also been delays to flights from Aberdeen and Bergen.
Loganair said due to the yellow and amber weather warning in place in parts of the UK, it is offering customers affected the option to change their travel date without charge up to seven days of original date.
Flight departures and arrivals for Loganair can be checked here: https://www.loganair.co.uk/login/flight-status/
Storm Ciaran sets new pressure record
In general, low pressure leads to unsettled weather conditions and high pressure leads to settled weather conditions.
Pressure is measured in hectoPascals (hPa), also called millibars (mb). Standard pressure at sea level is defined as 1013hPa, but there can be large areas of either high or low pressure.
England and Wales have had their lowest mean sea level pressure on record for November during Storm Ciaran, with a value of 953.3 hPa (mb) in Plymouth and 958.5 hPa (mb) in St Athan, the Met Office said.
It has been reported the previous record in England was 959.7 hPa (mb), set in 1916, and the previous record in Wales was 962.7 hPa (mb), set in 2010.
Updated yellow weather warning for Scotland
A yellow weather warning for rain covering mainly the Grampian and Highland areas has been extended.
The alert was initially in place until 6am on Friday but will now stretch to 6pm.
Parts of East Lothian, the Scottish Borders and Angus are also covered by the warning.
A statement from the Met Office read: "Periods of heavy rain associated with Storm Ciarán will affect parts of eastern Scotland during the rest of Thursday and Friday, before easing towards Friday evening; northern parts of the warning area will probably be slowest to improve. Rainfall amounts are likely to reach 20-30 mm quite widely, with 40-60 mm possible over high ground. Strong winds at times, perhaps exacerbating any impacts."
Reason for update
Parts of east and northeast England have now been removed from the warning. Adjustments have been made to the Scottish area, with the later end time, this applying chiefly to northern parts of the warning area.
The Met Office said the heavy rain associated with Storm Ciarán could bring some disruption:
- Spray and flooding could lead to difficult driving conditions and some road closures
- Where flooding occurs, there is a chance of delays or cancellations to train and bus services
- There is a small chance that homes and businesses could be flooded, causing damage to some buildings
- There is a small chance of fast flowing or deep floodwater
Crowds pictured at Edinburgh Waverley amid travel disruption
Several train services to and from Edinburgh Waverley have been heavily disrupted due to electricity supply failure and weather conditions.
Crowds were pictured at the capital's train station on Thursday evening with commuters waiting for travel information.
Several LNER services have been cancelled, with others facing serious delays due to speed restrictions being in place.
Electricity supply failure compounds travel disruption for Edinburgh commuters
Network Rail said a loss of power to the electricity supply in the Edinburgh area is causing delays.
Teams are responding to the issue and investigations are underway.
Further updates can be found on the Network Rail social media pages.
The operator warned passengers to check with their service provider for journey updates.
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