WEATHER: Storm Dudley set to cause major disruption with up to 90mph winds

An amber weather warning will be active from 2pm on Wednesday

Helensburgh Central railway station by Joe Porter

STV is reporting that major disruption on public transport is expected as Storm Dudley sweeps across Scotland.

An amber weather warning has been issued by the Met Office, with strong winds potentially reaching up to 90mph.

The warning will be active from 2pm on Wednesday, having been brought forward by two hours.

It is set to impact on central and southern Scotland.

ScotRail has announced that most of its services will be stopping earlier than normal, with most last services departing between 2pm and 3:30pm.

The amber warning will be downgraded by the Met Office to a yellow weather warning from midnight until 6am on Thursday.

A resilience meeting of the Scottish Government was held on Tuesday evening ahead of the expected weather disruption.

Deputy First Minister John Swinney has urged people to plan their journeys in advance, exercise caution and to follow the latest travel advice.

Storm damage not just an act of nature, but a result of government inaction

Commenting on the arrival of Storm Dudley, disruption to rail and ferry services and the risk of serious damage faced by communities, Scottish Liberal Democrat rural affairs spokesperson Beatrice Wishart MSP slammed the Scottish Government’s unpreparedness ahead of yet another storm and warned that not enough is being done to make our country and its infrastructure more resilient to extreme weather.

Ms Wishart said: “Rail, ferries and rural communities are facing enormous disruption once again, thousands of homes regularly lose power, flood defence projects are years behind and Scotland’s Victorian sewers are facing extreme weather that they were never designed to cope with.

“The Government have failed to adapt our infrastructure to meet these challenges.

“The destruction and disruption that we are now seeing is not just an act of nature but also a consequence of the Scottish Government’s ineptitude in preparing for this weather.

“As the climate emergency intensifies, what used to be rare events are now regular occurrences.

“That’s why Scottish Liberal Democrats are proposing a new Climate Emergency Communities Fund, aimed at upgrading Scotland’s homes, businesses and infrastructure to cope with the impact of the climate emergency.

“The Scottish Government should listen to these proposals and not leave communities to feel the full force of extreme weather events.”

SEAN BATTY, THE STV WEATHER REPORTER

Over the past few days there’s been lots of fine-tuning of Storm Dudley’s track and intensity. On Friday last week it looked like a storm which would hit the same areas as Storm Corrie, and with the same ferocity of winds, up to 90mph. As time has gone on this has been tamed and shifted further south.
With Storm Dudley coming in this afternoon we now have much more certainty with gusts now and are expecting around 70mph in the likes of Islay, Kintyre, Arran, the Ayrshire coast and over the hills of South Lanarkshire and the Borders. Elsewhere in central and southern areas gusts will be 50-60mph for a time late afternoon and evening.

As Dudley moves in the North Sea on Wednesday night colder air will begin to move south with many of the showers turning wintry in the north.

Unusually the next named storm, Eunice, is just a few days after Dudley. Eunice will be a lot further south with the potential to become a very noteworthy event for England and Wales. Even though we miss the worst of the winds from Eunice, she will bring the risk of heavy snow and blizzards in southern Scotland on Friday morning. But like Dudley, a change in track a little north or south will make all the difference.

We’re now in the very unsettled phase of winter after a quiet start in December, and there’s no end in sight. Having had a look at the computer models for next week, I’d say there’s a chance of more named storms.