Continued disruption to travel and power as Storm Amy hits UK

Storm Amy continues to cause widespread disruption across the UK, with thousands of homes facing power outages.

Major parks have been closed, railways have been disrupted and “risk to life” warnings have been issued over up to 100mph gusts of wind in some areas.

The Met Office has issued a yellow weather warning for wind covering the whole of the UK, while the north of Scotland also faces a new amber warning for “damaging” winds with gusts of more than 90mph in some areas.

Scotland is facing continued power outages, mainly in the Highlands which have been worst affected by weather.

Fraser Wilson, of the Scottish and Southern Electricity Networks, told BBC Radio Scotland’s Good Morning Scotland programme the network was working to restore power on Saturday morning.

He said 100mph winds had affected power across Scotland and while some people had their power restored, there were still thousands without it.

He said: “Work will continue this morning to get 62,000 people reconnected. We expect because of the extent of damage to the network and conditions we are still going to be facing today that this will take some time, this storm is not over by any means.”

The National Grid said: “Engineers will be working around the clock to restore supplies quickly if severe weather causes disruptions.”

Further travel disruption is likely to follow after several flights, rail and ferry services were cancelled.

The Met Office has updated a weather warning for northern Scotland on Sunday which is now extended further south-west of the country.

A yellow wind warning is in place until midday on Sunday.

Meanwhile, Royal Parks confirmed closure of all of its national parks in London due to “severe wind gusts”, including Hyde Park, Kensington Gardens and St James Park.

In a statement on its website, the Royal Parks said: “Due to severe wind gusts caused by Storm Amy, all of the royal parks, plus Brompton Cemetery and Victoria Tower Gardens will be closed on Saturday October 4.

“This closure includes all park roads and cycleways, cafes and kiosks, parks sports venues, the Serpentine lido and boating lake, and the royal parks shop.”

A new record for the deepest area of low pressure in the UK for October has also been set.

Storm Amy showed central pressure of 947.9 hectopascal (hPa) at Baltasound, Shetland. The previous record was 950.9hPa in 1988.

Belfast International Airport says delays may still be possible on Saturday and advised travellers to check airlines for latest flight information.

Glasgow Airport also said people should check the status of their flight with airlines.

Comedian Jason Manford had to cancel his show in Belfast on Friday.

He wrote on social media: “Due to extreme weather conditions caused by Storm Amy, the British Airways plane that Jason Manford was flying on this afternoon could not land in Belfast and was re-routed to Manchester.”

On Saturday morning, ScotRail said about 80 trees had been brought down on lines and engineers were checking routes before resuming services.

All services out of Glasgow Central have been suspended until at least 2pm on Saturday.

Mark Ilderton, ScotRail service delivery director, said there will be “considerable disruption” to train services on Saturday.

He said: “We’re sorry to customers who have been impacted by the disruption caused by Storm Amy.

“Network Rail and ScotRail teams will work flat out to recover services as quickly as possible, but considerable disruption will continue through Saturday morning.

“We’re advising customers to check their journey before they travel via the ScotRail website, mobile app or social media feeds.”

Network Rail have said teams were “working around the clock” to repair extensive damage caused by Storm Amy.

It said more than 170 separate incidents have been reported so far.

Ross Moran, route director at Network Rail Scotland, said: “Our teams are working tirelessly to assess the damage, inspect the railway, and carry out essential repairs. They’re often out in extremely challenging conditions, especially with Storm Amy still affecting parts of northern Scotland.

“Safety remains our top priority. We must ensure our teams can work safely on the ground and confirm that lines are secure before passenger services can run.

“We understand how disruptive this is for passengers and we’re sorry for the inconvenience. Severe weather events like Storm Amy pose a significant challenge for the railway, but we’re doing everything we can to restore services as quickly and safely as possible.”

Network Rail said the storm had a greater impact than predicted.

Several lines in the north of Scotland were proactively closed ahead of Storm Amy’s arrival. However, the network said as the storm’s impact hit harder than expected, additional routes were forced to shut around Glasgow and in the south west.

Met Office chief forecaster Neil Armstrong said: “Storm Amy will be an impactful autumn storm for many in Scotland and Northern Ireland, though impacts will also spread to north-west England and Wales, as well as a more widespread windy period for the rest of the UK.

“Within the amber warning areas, damaging gusts of around 100mph are possible for a time on Friday evening for parts of western Scotland, especially Skye, Tiree, Barra and western Lochaber.

“This could lead to significant disruption and brings the risk of power cuts and damage to buildings and trees.

“Elsewhere, gusts of 60-80 mph are expected more widely in the amber warning areas, and slightly lower figures for those covered by yellow warnings.

“Rainfall is an additional hazard, in particular over western Scotland, where totals could exceed 30-50mm in six to nine hours, increasing the risk of flooding for some.

“A number of warnings have been issued covering the rainfall risk for the coming days.”