Scotland braced for severe weather: Met Office amber warning issued

In the past hour, the Met Office has confirmed a significant forecast change. Snow in the south now looks less likely for Wednesday. However, for the Highlands and Moray areas, an amber warning for rain has been issued. A period of heavy rain is expected from midnight and will continue into tomorrow.

The Met Office had already issued a series of warnings for across Scotland this week, which will impact the transport network. Road, rail, air and ferry services are all likely to be affected by the conditions, with longer journey times and cancellations possible, as well as potential restrictions on bridges. The strong winds could also lead to fallen trees, damage to buildings and power cuts. The updated weather warnings, including the escalation of the rain warning for the north and changes to the snow warnings, can be found on the Met Office website.

Following discussions with SEPA colleagues this morning through the Scottish Flood Forecasting Service, the Met Office has issued an Amber Warning for rain that largely covers parts of the southern Highlands and Moray, valid overnight tonight (Monday) and during Tuesday.

The Scottish Government Resilience Room (SGORR) has also activated in response to the weather warnings. Scottish Government officials will continue to monitor the situation and work with frontline agencies to mitigate the impacts of the severe weather. The Justice Secretary will chair a meeting of SGORR this evening to review our preparedness for the challenging weather ahead.

We’ve already seen persistent rain across a swathe of Scotland to the north of the Central Belt, with 40-50mm of rainfall falling widely yesterday and another 20-25mm this morning. Another batch of heavy rain is due to arrive this evening, bringing a further 55-70mm for the following 24 hours, with the potential for as much as 80-90mm in a few places. This leads to rainfall accumulations of around 100-140mm in total in the 48hrs to end of Tuesday. There are already some impacts on the transport network (mainly rail, to date) across parts of the Highlands (Glenfinnan, Kingussie) this morning, and these are only likely to be exacerbated by the rain to come, with the additional risk of property flooding from river and surface water.

It comes as tens of thousands of people had been preparing to use the transport network for their New Year celebrations. Preparations are well underway across the trunk road network, with salt barns filled and over 240 gritters ready for deployment from depots around the country. Rail, ferry and airport operators are also ready to ensure that people can reach their destination over the festive period, when it is safe to do so and once the worst of the conditions have passed or expired.

Traffic Scotland will monitor the trunk road network from the National Control Centre in South Queensferry, along with key partner agencies Police Scotland and the Met Office. Transport Scotland officials have chaired a Multi Agency Response Team (MART) partners call yesterday (Sunday) and have a follow-up call today (Monday) to obtain the latest weather information, discuss operational response activities with key affected agencies and undertake an overview of the coordinated resources in place.

Douglas Cairns, Traffic Scotland operator manager at Transport Scotland, said:

“The severe weather across much of Scotland this week will unfortunately cause some disruption across the transport network.

"Road, rail, air and ferry services are all likely to be affected by the conditions, with localised flooding, longer journey times and cancellations possible, as well as potential restrictions on bridges. The network is also expected to be busy as people travel to celebrate New Year with friends and family.

"We are asking travellers to plan their journeys before setting off to ensure they reach their destination and celebrations in good time.

"If you’re driving, make sure your vehicle is winter ready and follow any Police Scotland travel advice that may be in place. Traffic Scotland provides up-to-date travel information on the trunk road network through its website, X account and internet radio broadcasts.

“The same advice goes for other modes of transport – if you are planning to travel by rail, air or ferry, stay in contact with your operator for the latest service information.