by BILL HEANEY
Two new weather warnings have been issued as a third storm, which broke over the weekend, is set to batter the country again in the midst of a major clean-up of damage caused by floods and gale-force winds up to 80mph.
It comes as thousands of homes across Scotland remain without power in the aftermath of Storm Boelo.
A yellow warning for wind, covering the Borders region, came into effect at 18:00 and runs until 03:00 on Tuesday.
A separate yellow wind warning, covering most of the country as well as parts of northern England and Northern Ireland, runs from 03:00 to 21:00 on Tuesday.
Forecasters such as Lucy Veraswamy, pictured left, added that strong winds would be accompanied by heavy rain at certain points.
At 1 am today (Tuesday), it was extremely wet and windy in Dumbarton, but forecasters said the latest weather system is unlikely to be as widely disruptive as Storm Boelo – or Storm Austen, which came before it – and has so far not been named.
The next name on the storm list for the 2026/2027 season is Chloe.
Storm Boelo brought heavy flooding and wind gusts in some areas of up to 85mph (137km/h) on Monday.
A 60-year-old man died after being struck by a falling tree at Mid Kelton, near Castle Douglas, in Dumfries and Galloway on Sunday.
Last night, Scottish and Southern Energy Networks (SSEN), which covers the north of Scotland, said work was ongoing to reconnect the supplies of about 15,000 homes that remained without power.
Meanwhile, Scottish Power Energy Networks (Spen) said all but a “very small number” of its 50,000 customers who lost power in Ayrshire and Dumfries and Galloway would have it restored by 02:00 on Tuesday. Almost 100,000 homes had power restored in both areas across the weekend.
In Arrochar, north of Loch Lomond and the Gareloch, with the electricity currently off due to the storm, the Loch Long Hotel sent out a message to villagers: we would like to welcome anyone affected to come along to Loch Long Hotel.
Rail and ferry disruption
ScotRail said the “vast majority” of its services were running as normal.
However, it warned that speed restrictions would be in place on several routes until 16:00 on Tuesday due to heavy rainfall. They are:
The West Highland Line from Glasgow Queen Street to Oban and Mallaig was kept running, as was Glasgow Queen Street to Helensburgh Central.
West Coast ferry operator CalMac said many of its services remained liable to disruption or cancellation at short notice and urged travellers to check its website for updates.
Picture by Dumbarton Golf Club at Broadmeadow was almost completely underwater after the River Leven burst its banks on Sunday
School closures
West Dunbartonshire Council refused to comment to The Dumbarton Democrat about the prospects for resumption of school openings in this region.
Ellon Academy will remain closed on Tuesday after being shut on Monday as a result of damage caused by the storm.
It comes after more than a dozen primary schools in Aberdeenshire and Rothiemay Primary School, in Moray, were closed on Monday due to a lack of power.
Twelve primary schools and nine nurseries across the Highlands were also subject to full or partial closures.
The aftermath of Storm Boelo across Scotland
The Scottish Environment Protection Agency (SEPA) said it had put an amber risk of flooding in place for the northern and Western Isles and Caithness and Sutherland.
SEPA said areas of the southwest and Argyll and the Firth of Clyde would experience volatile conditions, with large waves and strong winds.
They said flooding of low-lying land was likely. Given that there was serious flooding on the flat land leading down to Dumbarton Castle, Lomondgate and Broadmeadow, some people questioned why these areas had ever received planning permission for house building.
Highland Council said flood gates on the mile-long Caol and Lochyside flood protection scheme, near Fort William, had been closed following a warning from SEPA.
Police Scotland said a high risk of disruption remained with poor weather conditions expected later today (Tuesday).
Police Scotland Assistant Chief Constable Mark Sutherland said that, although the amber weather warning was no longer in place, disruption was “likely well beyond that due to further poor weather, fallen trees and other damage caused by the storm”.
Social Justice and Housing Secretary Shirley-Anne Somerville told BBC Scotland News there were “challenges ahead” due to the prolonged nature of the conditions.
She urged councils to review their readiness, adding authorities were working to ensure that “everything that can be done is being done”.
Somerville also said that everyone can play a part by getting “households as resilient as we can, as well as looking after neighbours and friends”.
However, there were complaints that West Dunbartonshire Council had once again let the public down by putting special arrangements into place.
The Council would not discuss this with The Democrat or tell us why householders had to pick up heavy sandbags themselves from the car park at the Council headquarters.
On a rotten morning when the rain was lashing down and the wind blowing like stink, elderly residents in Dumbarton were still turning up at The Concord for their flu jabs.
The Council’s Care at Home Service kept going, with the carers bravely battling through the storm to attend to the elderly and infirm local people they look after.
All the usual places, such as High Street, Castle Street, the St James’ Park retail park, Levengrove Park, Silvertson, and Castlegreen Street, made walking or driving impossible. Many people were stuck at home.
Lomond Radio broadcast messages to householders about the emergency – A flood warning from SEPA remains in place for Dumbarton. Further impacts are expected around the time of high tide at around 12:51 pm on Sunday 25th October.
