Schools closed as rare red weather warning issued

Schools across Scotland will close on Friday and all trains have been cancelled after a red weather warning was issued ahead of Storm Éowyn.

The Met Office said winds could reach 100mph in exposed western coasts and that there could be a risk to life due to flying debris, power cuts and damage to buildings.

The red warning will run from 10:00 to 17:00 on Friday and covers a large chunk of the central belt including Glasgow, Edinburgh, some islands and parts of south west Scotland.

Schools in most council areas have already confirmed they will be closed.

The gusts are expected to create very dangerous driving conditions and cause significant disruption to all travel.

ScotRail has already announced that all trains will be cancelled on Friday.

A spokesperson said: "There will be no train services, and no alternative transport will be available.

"It follows a further review of the weather forecasts, which shows that the conditions will be much worse in many areas than earlier forecasts had predicted."

CalMac has said all its ferry services will be cancelled too, while Northlink said ferry services were likely to be cancelled or delayed.

Edinburgh Airport has said whether flights go ahead is up to airlines.

Outside of the red warning area, the rest of Scotland will be covered by amber and yellow alerts for wind and snow for much of the day:

• A red warning for wind across central Scotland, Tayside, Fife, south west Scotland, Lothian, Borders and Strathclyde regions lasts from 10:00 until 17:00 on Friday
• An amber warning for wind covering everywhere north of Perth, including Orkney and Shetland, lasts from 06:00 on Friday until 06:00 on Saturday
• Another amber warning for wind covering everywhere south of Perth, though sweeping up the west coast encompassing the Isle of Mull, lasts from 06:00 until 21:00 on Friday. This will include the areas affected by the red alert after 17:00
• A yellow warning for snow, starting at 06:00 on Friday until midnight, covers parts of central Scotland, Tayside, Fife, Grampian, the Highlands and islands and Argyll & Bute

Further amber and yellow weather warnings are in place for part of Scotland on Saturday.

First Minister John Swinney told parliament that Police Scotland would issue a formal "do not travel" advisory notice and that the government's resilience and emergency system (SGoRR) had been activated.

The Scottish Parliament will be closed as will a number of courts including Edinburgh and Glasgow High Courts.

Storm Éowyn - the first named storm of the year in the UK - will see winds rapidly increase from west to east throughout Friday morning into the afternoon, according to the Met Office.

Peak gusts of 80-90mph are expected to impact fairly widely in areas covered by the alert.

The weather service's chief meteorologist Paul Gundersen said: "We reserve the issuing of red warnings for the most severe weather which represents a likely danger to life and severe disruption, and that is the case with Storm Éowyn.

"While it will be widely very windy on Friday, with additional hazards from rain and snow, the strongest winds and most significant impacts are likely in Northern Ireland and central and southwestern parts of Scotland within the red warning areas."

The Met Office added winds will gradually ease throughout Friday evening.

SSEN has warned customers should be prepared for the likelihood that their power supplies may be disrupted.

The energy supplier said they have increased their response teams to "ten times the usual levels" ahead of the storm, while 170,000 vulnerable customers have been sent text messages giving them advice on how to prepare.

Police Scotland's head of road policing Hilary Sloan said it was "very important" people did not travel, with driving conditions likely to be treacherous and severe disruption to public transport.

Train company Avanti West Coast - which runs cross-border trains - warned that passengers should not travel north of Preston, while Transpenine Express said it was "urging" customers not to travel to Scotland and LNER advised travellers to avoid going north of York.

• A number of bridges, including the Forth Road Bridge, will implement speed restrictions.
• Flood gates at Broughty Ferry and Riverside in Dundee will be closed later due to the expected conditions.
• The Royal National Lifeboat Institution urged people living near the coast to "stay vigilant" in the conditions.

Michael Avril, the organisation's water safety lead for Scotland, said: "If you plan to visit the coast, the RNLI advises that you stay a safe distance from the water as conditions could knock you off your feet or wash you into the sea.

"It is not worth risking your life."

Glasgow Warriors rugby team had already moved their Friday night fixture with Connacht to Sunday as a result of the warnings, while Caledonia Gladiators basketball team postponed their fixture against Leicester Riders.

Entertainment venues such as the Glasgow Science Centre and the Glasgow Film Theatre announced they would be closed on Friday, though the latter said it hoped to open at 18:00.