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| Thousands without power as storm Abigail forces school closures | |
| (about 14 hours later) | |
| Thousands of homes lost power, dozens of schools were closed and bridges were closed to high-sided vehicles as storm Abigail brought gale-force winds of up to 84mph to northern Britain overnight. | |
| Scotland has been worst hit by the strong gusts, which prompted a number of Met Office amber warnings, but the rest of the UK can expect heavy, thundery showers throughout the day as Britain’s first named storm sweeps its way down the country. | |
| The Met Office, which said surface water and gusts could cause problems during rush hour, issued amber “be prepared” weather warnings for the Highlands, Orkney Islands and Shetland Islands; a yellow “be aware” warning covers most of Scotland and part of the south-west of England and Wales. | |
| Related: ID of the storm: Met Office invites public to name severe weather systems | |
| The storm reached its peak in the early hours of this morning and while it would ease through the day, it would be a slow process, forecaster Simon Partridge said. “It’s going to be a blustery, wet day for most parts and feel much cooler than it has done in recent weeks. Temperatures will be much closer to the average for this time of year and in Scotland it might even drop to a ‘feels-like’ temperature of around 1C (33.8F).” | |
| A number of Caledonian MacBrayne ferry sailings were cancelled before the storm and commuters on the trains and roads are facing disruption. Western Isles council said every school and nursery in its area would be closed to pupils on Friday. Schools would be open for teaching staff from 10am. | |
| Shetland Islands council also announced that its schools would be shut to pupils due to the forecast of strong winds and the possibility of lightning. Orkney Islands council said any decision on school closures would be taken on Friday morning. | |
| The closures come as the Met Office warned of likely gusts of 70-80mph, potentially reaching up to 90mph across exposed locations in the north-west of Scotland. The storm, which was expected to reach its height overnight, had already brought strengthening winds and heavy rain to many parts of Scotland. | |
| Emma Sharples, a Met Office meteorologist, said: “The main centre of the low pressure system around which all the winds are going to be strongest is moving from the Atlantic towards the north-west parts of Scotland at the moment. That’s going to continue to edge towards us. | |
| “There’s obviously rain already setting in and winds strengthening across the country and that will continue to be the case through the rest of this evening, with the band of rain spreading eastwards across Scotland and then the wind turning from a south westerly to more of a westerly as we go through towards midnight.” | “There’s obviously rain already setting in and winds strengthening across the country and that will continue to be the case through the rest of this evening, with the band of rain spreading eastwards across Scotland and then the wind turning from a south westerly to more of a westerly as we go through towards midnight.” |
| Sharples said the Western Isles had already seen gusts of 55mph and upwards by mid-afternoon on Thursday. | |
| By 5pm, CalMac said 24 of its 26 ferry routes were disrupted. The company had urged travellers to think carefully if they are planning to visit the west coast. | |
| The train operator ScotRail said there was minor disruption on its routes from Glasgow to Carlisle/Newcastle, Glasgow to Ardrossan/Ayr/Largs and Kilmarnock to Ayr. The Forth road bridge has been closed to high-sided vehicles, cars with trailers, caravans, motorcycles, bicycles and pedestrians. | |
| High wind warnings are in place for key crossings, including the Erskine and Kessock bridges, and warnings of surface water have been issued for key commuter routes the M90 and M74. | |
| Dublin airport said it was experiencing some minor disruption to flight schedules due to strong winds. | |
| Meanwhile, Dumfries and Galloway police said there are a number of trees down across the region. Traffic Scotland said a fallen tree on the A82 is partially blocking the road and affecting traffic in both directions. The Scottish Environment Protection Agency (Sepa) has flood alerts and warnings in place for Dumfries and Galloway, Argyll and Bute, Ayrshire and Arran, Skye and Lochaber, and Speyside. | |
| Members of the public have been asked to secure any loose debris, while builders have been advised to secure scaffolding and any loose items on building sites. People are also being asked to look out for the elderly and vulnerable. | Members of the public have been asked to secure any loose debris, while builders have been advised to secure scaffolding and any loose items on building sites. People are also being asked to look out for the elderly and vulnerable. |
| The Scottish Fire and Rescue service (SFRS) has urged people to take extra care if they are using candles during any power cuts. Scottish Hydro Electric Power Distribution said it had moved to “yellow alert” and had more than 500 workers in place in advance of the storm hitting. | |
| The storm is the first such weather system affecting the country to merit a name as part of the Met Office “name our storms” project, in which the public were asked to suggest names. Officials hope the project will help raise awareness of severe weather and ensure greater safety of the public. | |