Storm Corrie battered Scotland with winds of up to 90mph last night, a day after Storm Malik wreaked havoc on Tayside and Fife.
First Minister Nicola Sturgeon said the impact of Sunday night’s severe weather – which saw ScotRail halt trains across the country at 6pm – is “likely to be significant”.
Its arrival came as many parts of Scotland were still assessing damage done by Saturday’s Storm Malik, which left 34,000 customers across the north of England and Scotland without power, including thousands in Angus and Perthshire.
The storm brought tragedy to the UK as well as disruption, with a nine-year-old boy in Staffordshire and a 60-year-old woman in Aberdeen killed after trees were torn down in dangerous gusts.
There were no reports of injuries in Tayside and Fife but winds of up to 72mph felled trees and caused road closures.
#StormCorrie has already brought gusts over 90 mph. Although the highest gusts have passed, very strong winds will continue for the next few hours pic.twitter.com/TMoOksiA3J
— Met Office (@metoffice) January 30, 2022
The chaos came after an amber “danger to life” warning for wind was issued by the Met Office on Friday.
The Tay Road Bridge was closed to all traffic from around 8am until 2pm on Saturday due to the high winds.
A post on its official Twitter account later read: “During our closure the highest recorded wind gust was at 89mph.”
Impact of stormy weekend
Roads closed as a result of fallen trees included the B969 in Glenrothes and the A92 at the Melville Lodges Roundabout while Perth and Kinross Council warned against travelling via the B9099 due to felled trees at Caputh and Murthly.
Train services were also disrupted by the storm, with network rail ceasing all trains between Dundee and Aberdeen due to fallen trees on the track.
Trains between Perth and Inverness were also halted.
In Angus, up to 150 trees were felled at Edzell Golf Club, leaving staff devastated just months after damage done to the course by Storm Arwen.
The entrance to the nature trail at Trinity Road in Brechin was also blocked by a downed tree while a large tree blocked the road between Montrose to Kinaldie on Saturday.
In Fife, part of a resident’s roof was blown off in Townhill, Dunfermline, with fence lines at Melville Lodges strewn with plastic waste as Storm Malik whipped across the site, blowing litter all over the farmland.
Our pictures also show a tree felled in Foggyley Gardens in the Lochee area of Dundee, with the storm also bringing down trees in Broughty Ferry’s Panmure Terrace.
Ms Sturgeon chaired a resilience meeting to discuss the severe weather on Sunday.
Shortly after the discussions, she wrote on Twitter: “There are amber/yellow @metoffice warnings in place for all of Scotland as Storm Corrie sets in – please heed the warnings and take care.
“Impacts from the storm are likely to be significant tonight and into tomorrow.
“Work to repair the damage from Storm Malik continues.
“Tens of thousands have had power reconnected already – however, many will remain off supply again tonight and some, especially in north east, could be off into Tuesday.
“Welfare arrangements are in place.”
Storm Corrie was expected to bring gusts of up to 90mph in exposed coastal locations in northern Scotland, and 70-80mph gusts in the north, before moving eastwards and pushing across the North Sea in the early hours of Monday.
Amber and yellow weather warnings for wind across northern parts of Scotland will remain in place on Monday.
They state that “flying debris is likely and could lead to injuries or danger to life”, while there may be some damage to trees and buildings, which could include tiles that have blown from roofs.
Ice warnings were also issued by the Met Office covering Grampian, Highlands and Eilean Siar, Strathclyde and Fife on Monday amid fears wintry showers and falling temperatures after Storm Corrie could turn untreated surfaces icy.
‘Significant damage’
It said: “In the wake of Storm Corrie, falling temperatures may allow a brief period of snow in a few areas, mainly on hills.
“Later in the night, clearer skies and wintry showers are expected, these most frequent for northwest and north Scotland, few and far between in eastern areas.
“These are likely to lead to ice forming on untreated surfaces, while strong northwesterly winds may lead to temporary blizzard conditions over high ground, with 1-2 cm of snow above 200m elevation and perhaps a few cm on the highest routes.”
Scottish and Southern Electricity Networks (SSEN) said Storm Malik caused “significant damage” to its network
SSEN warned the double blow of storms Malik and Corrie could mean that some customers, particularly those in rural Aberdeenshire, may have to wait until early this week before supply problems are fixed.
Richard Gough, of SSEN, said: “We are therefore reminding all customers who remain off supply that they may want to consider making alternative arrangements, where possible.”
Rural Aberdeenshire is among the hardest hit areas and some customers in Angus, the Highlands, the Moray coast and Perthshire are still waiting for supplies to be restored.
