The Scottish Government has issued advice to schools across the country urging headteachers to either close for the day or close early due to the risks of severe gales.
Schools across west, central and southern Scotland are set to not open, while many in the east where the storm is due to hit last will be closing at noon.
The Scottish Government says the latest forecasts show the very severe gales due to hit Scotland are almost certain to close key routes and could result in police advising motorists to avoid travelling.
Drivers have already been told to expect the complete closure of major road bridges, including the Forth and Tay.
The Scottish Government’s resilience committee met to receive the latest advice from the Met Office’s chief forecaster and the Association of Chief Police Officer (ACPOS) showing that winds gusting up to 90mph are now due to hit western areas of Scotland, the central belt and large parts of the south of the country from as early as 7am in the extreme west, with the strongest winds expected from noon in Glasgow and west-central areas and 3pm in the east of the central belt, lasting through into the evening.
Fife Council has already announced (link) its schools will close at noon.
In Tayside, the Perth and Kinross, Angus and Dundee City councils are monitoring developments.
The councils say they will be posting live updates on Twitter throughout the day. You can find them at:
You can also follow updates on The Courier Facebook page at: www.facebook.com/thecourieruk
A Scottish Government spokesman said: “Expert advice has led ministers to advise that, for safety reasons, councils across the affected areas should, in western parts of the country, not open schools in the morning, and in eastern areas close early at noon ahead of the most dangerous conditions arriving, and to advise parents and staff of their intentions at the earliest opportunity.
“Ministers are also stressing that the general travelling public should pay close attention to the probability of the ‘avoid travelling on the roads’ warning being issued by police. This level of travel warning is unprecedented for high wind situations.
“The specific advice is that conditions for travel could be dangerous and travellers could experience severe delays of several hours or more. In particular, high-sided vehicles, HGVs, buses etc. should not travel during the periods specified.”To monitor Met Office weather warnings click here, and stay up to date with traffic information at trafficscotland.org