New Red Warning for Rain – Saturday 21 October
The multi-agency response for transport resilience continues, with weather warnings still in place across Scotland, and a new Red Weather Warning issued for Saturday 21 October.
It’s been a challenging period overnight into Friday morning, particularly for communities most impacted by flooding. Local and trunk roads are impacted, transport services have been cancelled in affected areas and the public are asked to continue to follow important public safety advice by Police Scotland.
There are various closures across the trunk road network that our road operating companies are currently responding to. We are working to reopen these roads as soon as possible. Live updates are available at www.traffic.gov.scot
The Met Office have now confirmed a new Red Warning for Rain across parts of Angus and Aberdeenshire for Saturday, lasting until 6pm. An additional Amber Warning for Rain has also been issued across the Easter Ross, Caithness and Sutherland areas for Saturday. Existing warnings are still in effect. Visit the Met Office website for the latest weather warning information.
People are asked to plan ahead and expect significant disruption to transport and travel across the affected areas. The Police Scotland advice remains that people should avoid travel in the red warning area today and tomorrow and expect a high risk of disruption in the amber areas also.
The Multi Agency Response Team has been operational overnight at the Traffic Scotland National Control Centre, alongside the Transport Scotland Resilience Room to monitor conditions, respond to any major conditions, and to help co-ordinate messaging and communications. Resilience partners continue to feed into the Scottish Government’s Resilience Room which is also operational.
Stein Connelly, from Transport Scotland, said:
“Storm Babet has created some extremely challenging conditions for communities and across the transport network. The latest advice from the Met Office, further to the existing warnings, is that the north and north east of Scotland will experience further severe weather on Saturday.
“There has been a coordinated response through the night, and we’re doing all we can to reopen impacted trunk roads and to support essential travel – but the advice remains to plan ahead and to expect a high risk of disruption if you do need to travel across amber areas.
“For the areas covered by the red warnings today and tomorrow, the advice of Police Scotland is clear. Do not travel in areas covered by a red warning. Red warnings are only issued for areas where extreme weather presents a risk to life. We’re grateful to everyone who has been following and sharing this important messaging – and I’m asking for your continued support and patience over the weekend.
“The forecasts continue to be updated, so please check with the Met Office for the latest warnings and the Traffic Scotland website and social media for trunk road updates. Please check with your transport operator for any impacts, follow the latest Police Scotland advice and check SEPA webpages for flooding information.”
Assistant Chief Constable Stuart Houston said:
"We are dealing with exceptional weather conditions which have been extremely challenging for all involved.
"Communities in parts of the country are dealing with some of the most difficult conditions they have faced, with a number of road closures in place due to hazardous conditions.
"I would like to thank the public for their co-operation and for sticking to the travel advice in place to keep people safe.
"I would again urge people to continue to follow the advice and listen to media broadcast, including radio, for updates.
"Follow your local authority for the latest updates in your area as well as police, the Met Office website and Traffic Scotland.
"Our advice is to avoid any form of travel in areas covered by the red weather warnings. We are dealing with significant flooding issues, which pose a threat to life."
Further information
UK weather warnings can be viewed on the Met Office website.
The Scottish Environment Protection Agency (SEPA) issues flood alerts and warnings for Scotland. View the latest updates on the SEPA website.
Updates on ScotRail services and road conditions are available online, both on the ScotRail website and Traffic Scotland website.
Advice on preparing for severe weather can be found on the Ready Scotland website.