Travel disruption is set to continue throughout the north and north-east today in the aftermath of Storm Eowyn.
ScotRail services continue to be cancelled and delayed, despite the rail operator being able to clear a number of affected lines.
Power cuts also continue to affect hundreds throughout Aberdeenshire, Moray and the northern Highlands.
A ScotRail statement, issued today, reads: “The impact of Storm Eowyn has been felt across Scotlands Railway, with extremely high winds causing significant damage to infrastructure throughout the country.
“Unfortunately, this means that ScotRail services will be heavily impacted today, Saturday, January 25, and customers should not expect any trains to operate before 12pm at the earliest.
“The safety of our staff and our customers is our absolute priority, and we will only run trains when we can guarantee that.”
Emergency staff could be seen working in Aberdeen today in the aftermath of yesterday’s severe winds.
The fire service have closed off a portion of Rose Street in the Granite City, while they attempt to clear loose tiles from roofs there, it’s understood.
Football fans have also been asked to take note of closures around Aberdeen’s Pittodrie Stadium today due to Storm Eowyn safety fears as the Dons host St Mirren in the Scottish Premiership at 3pm this afternoon.
Meanwhile, all Aberdeen City Council libraries and other services are returning to their normal opening hours today.
Parts of Merkland Road East and Ardarroch Road continue to have no vehicle access after the building fire in Merkland Road East earlier this week, however.
New weather warnings issued by Met Office
Further disruption is set to continue with the Met Office issuing new warnings for both wind and snow and ice.
The 12-hour yellow weather warning is set to affect large parts of the Highlands, the Western Isles and Argyll and Bute.
Winds were recorded at extreme levels yesterday – with gusts of 87mph recorded in Inverbervie at 5pm.
Dornoch Bridge remains closed to high vehicles while all motorists across the country’s roads are advised to “use caution” due to winds.
However, a weather warning for snow and ice remains in place for entirety of the north and north east, which is set to last until 11am this morning, which is set to bring “icy stretches and some snow showers” to the region.
Jason Kelly, chief meteorologist for the Met Office, said: “The influence of Storm Éowyn on the UK’s weather will diminish as it moves further north and east on Saturday morning.
“But there’s little respite in the conditions for some with the next area of low pressure arriving from the southwest on Sunday.
“While Sunday’s system doesn’t have the same strength as Eowyn, it will hamper some recovery efforts and bring further wind and rain, with the possibility of some flooding in places.”
Strong gusts will continue on the east coast and are are expected to slowly move off into the North Sea.
Power cuts continue to hit the region
Several areas across the north and north-east are experiencing a loss of power today.
Engineers have been deployed across Aberdeenshire, Moray and the Northern Highlands in order to restore electricity to homes hit by Storm Eowyn.
In Banchory, the Burnett Arms Hotel and Saffron Garden in the Douglas Arms Hotel are offering free food, shower and room facilities to anyone impacted by the weather.
Areas of Kemnay, Alford and Kingseat have all reported outages.
Balhalgardy, outside of Inverurie, is also facing power cuts, which could last until 10pm tonight.
SSEN shared a video to highlight the work they have done to restore power in Inverbervie, where a new electricity pole had to be installed.
Meanwhile, a small number of people near Fochabers have also been hit with a loss of power.
In the Highlands, more than 200 customers have lost power in the Edderton area near Tain. This should be resolved by 10pm tonight.
A further eight properties are experiencing an outage west of Thurso and across a large stretch of the A9 between Halkirk and Lybster
Meanwhile, large parts of the Western Isles have been hit with major outages.
Some West Coast homes have been informed that they will have no power until Monday.
On Islay, 2,965 households are without electricity, with most of the island affected by the outages. The Isle of Arran is also affected, with 1,537 customers without power.
Campbeltown is also experiencing a large outage which stretches all the way north until Lochgilphead.
Storm Eowyn to disrupt road, air and ferry travel
Meanwhile, the Met Office and Traffic Scotland have reported the conditions are likely to cause some disruption to road, air and ferry travel today.
A number of flights at Aberdeen Airport have been delayed this morning already, including LoganAir and easyJet services – with disruption expected until this afternoon. Meanwhile, Inverness Airport flights are running as scheduled.
All CalMac ferries on Friday were cancelled due to the strong winds forecast and will remain suspended until at least 10am on Saturday. The Corran Ferry has also not run for the duration of the day.
Western Ferries, as well as the Cuan, Easdale and Jura ferry have also been cancelled.
NorthLink Ferries issued a warning of disruption yesterday for their services planned today until Tuesday, January, 28.
Fallen trees block roads
A number of roads have been blocked by fallen trees, including on the road between Garmough and Lhanbryde.
Other fallen trees have been reported on South Deeside Road near Maryculter House, Morningfield Road, the A93 south of Kincardine O’Neil and on the B9170 near Meldrum House.
At around 8pm on Friday, Aberdeen City Council were in attendance at a fallen tree on top of a car on Morningfield Road.
Emergency services are also expected to continue to be stretched into Saturday with police responding to 1,500 incidents by 6pm yesterday.
The Ambulance and fire services have also asked people to only call 999 when there is “an immediate risk of harm”.
RNL urge residents to ‘stay safe’ near water
The RNLI has also urged the public to stay safe and water safety lead for Scotland Michael Avril has said: “Storm Eowyn is set to bring potentially dangerous and uncertain conditions so we’re asking the public to stay vigilant.
“If you plan to visit the coast, the RNLI advises that you stay a safe distance from the water. Conditions could knock you off your feet or wash you into the sea.
“It is not worth risking your life.”
BBC Scotland weather presenter Judith Ralston added: “This is one major storm.
“I’ve not seen anything like it in my career. Please please keep up to date with the Met Office warnings. There are numerous out right now including an Amber high wind.”
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