People returning to work as Covid restrictions eased faced travel chaos this morning with damage caused by Storm Corrie hampering many routes.
Fierce 90-mph winds late on Sunday night and into early Monday morning brought down trees and disrupted powerlines across the north of Scotland, with the area already reeling from the impact of Storm Malik on Saturday.
Thousands remain without power this morning in Aberdeenshire and across the North East, with a relief effort underway to provide them with hot food and support.
Dozens of schools have been shut in the region, due to travel issues or loss of power.
READ MORE: SSEN declares 'red alert' as thousands without power
First Minister Nicola Sturgeon has warned that the impact of Storm Corrie will be ‘severe’, Scottish and Southern Electricity Networks (SSEN) has issued a ‘red alert’, with around 7,000 customers remaining off supply following yesterday’s extreme weather.
1/ Just chaired another @scotgov resilience meeting on weather. There are amber/yellow @metoffice warnings in place for all of Scotland as Storm #Corrie sets in - please heed the warnings and take care. Impacts from the storm are likely to be significant tonight & into tomorrow
— Nicola Sturgeon (@NicolaSturgeon) January 30, 2022
Winds of 70-90mph were recoreded in some places, with the strongest gust of 120mph felt at the top of the Cairngorms.
Met Office meteorologist Alex Burkill said: “That is exceptionally strong for any time of the year and there is no wonder there were significant impacts such as power outages and damage to buildings. It is very unfortunate that things were worse than that for some people.”
SSEN’s teams were aiming to restore power to an additional 1,500 customers last night, though the firm has warned that many will remain without power into the early part if this week.
The main areas which continue to be affected are rural Aberdeenshire, with pockets of customers also off supply in Angus, the Highlands, the Moray Coast and Perthshire.
The ice warning in place today (source:Met Office)
Scotrail took the step of cancelling all services on Sunday night and many rail lines remain affected today. Commuters have been urged to check before they travel.
Services between Edinburgh and Newcastle are suspended due to Storm Corrie.
The line was closed this morning because of strong winds and heavy rain across the east coast of Scotland and the north-east of England.
Affected operators include London North Eastern Railway, CrossCountry and TransPennine Express.
Network Rail said it was carrying out safety checks in a bid to reopen the line.
A similar picture has emerged on Scotland’s ferry routes, where sailings have been restricted by high seas.
On the roads this morning, traffic was backed up outside Edinburgh on the M90 at the Queensferry crossing because of a broken down lorry, with the recovery effort not expected to be completed till mid-day.
READ MORE: Nicola Sturgeon warns impact ‘likely to be significant’
The A9 in the Highlands was partially blocked by a fallen tree, while the A92 is congested at Strathblane. Scotland’s bridges remain open despite the high winds.
An Amber ‘danger to life’ warning for high winds issued by the Met Office has now expired, but a yellow alert for ice remains in place for much of the north of Scotland until 10am today.
Jonathan Vautrey of the Met Office said: "People really need to be aware of these warnings when they are setting out for work on Monday morning.
"The amber one may expire early on but the yellow one means that disruption to transport can be expected up to lunch time at least.
"Storm Corrie will be more significant and impactful than your average winter storm."
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