IT’s the morning after the gale of the day before, and workmen have a busy time ahead of them, repairing some of the extensive damage caused in an area stretching from Cape Wrath to the Mull of Galloway. The winds’ velocity ranged from 60 mph in some areas to 87 mph in others. In Renfrew, the wind force was the greatest experienced since 1936, 12 years earlier, when a velocity of 92 mph had been reported.

Electricity supplies were disrupted, phone lines were blown down, houses were damaged, and roads were blocked by fallen trees. Probably the worst damage of this gale, in February 1948, was at Lithgow’s Kingston yard, at Port Glasgow, where more than 500 men had to stop work when six cranes were blown down. The cranes, each weighing 50 tonnes and standing 100ft tall, were mostly reduced to twisted girders.

Two of the cranes fell onto a tanker that was due to be launched the following month, damaging its bridge and upper structure.

A B.O.A.C. freight Liberator, five hours out from Prestwick en route to Montreal, was forced back by strong headwinds and a fierce gale. The wind was so strong that when the plane returned to Prestwick it was blown several miles past the airport.

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Twenty telephone exchanges were put out of action, mainly between Argyllshire and the north-west.

The driver of the London-Stranraer boat-train suffered facial cuts when the side-glass of the engine cabin was blown in. He needed hospital treatment, and the express arrived four hours late.

Shipping and steamer services were also disrupted.

The photograph shows workmen repairing a damaged chimney stack above a tenement in Nuneaton Street, Bridgeton.