Storm Boelo has brought flooding and 84mph gusts to Scotland, leaving around 6,000 homes without power and causing widespread travel disruption on Sunday. The storm hit shortly after Storm Austen brought heavy rain to many areas on Friday.
The Met Office had warned of potential injuries and danger to life from flying debris, as well as a chance of damage to buildings and travel disruption. An amber wind warning came into force at 9pm on Saturday night and will remain in place until 9pm on Sunday, with only Orkney remaining under a yellow warning.
Ayrshire among worst-hit areas
Ayrshire appears to have been one of the worst hit areas, with business owners telling the Record of the devastation. Geraldo’s, a popular family-run tourist shop in Largs, sustained major damage overnight into Sunday. Owner Toni Dawson said the scenes at the shop were a 'disaster'.
She said: “It’s a disaster. Right now we have a huge bin at the front of the shop and I’m just clearing out as much as we can. I’m waiting on a builder and someone else coming to board up the front of the shop because we’ve got another high tide coming soon. People are shouting at me from all angles.”
Tha-Tien-Thai restaurant, in Largs, sustained devastating damage with huge kitchen appliances strewn around in the flood water. The owner said it was the third time this year the business had been flooded, but this was the worst damage he had seen. He said: “We can’t stay like this anymore. Say we open again in one-two weeks and it floods again in three weeks, it makes no sense. I just got a new freezer on Friday afternoon and now it’s damaged.” The business posted scenes of their kitchen on Facebook, saying they were “truly devastated” and wrote: “There is nothing left.”
Saltcoats has also suffered major flooding overnight. Footage from the town shows torrents running through the streets and cars submerged, as the water level rose last night. One resident shared these scenes from Quay Street.
Strongest gusts recorded
The Met Office shared the strongest Storm Boelo gusts recorded so far on Sunday morning, with an Argyll and Bute community being battered by 84mph winds. Machrihanish, a small coastal village on the west coast of the Kintyre peninsula, topped the chart. Tiree, the most westerly island in the Inner Hebrides, was third on the list with gusts of 82mph. Port Ellen, a small town on the island of Islay, in Argyll, was fourth with wind speeds of 81mph.
In the Glasgow region, the Met Office recorded up to 62mph wind gusts at the same time. It has also caused disruptions from fallen trees and flooding on the roads in Scotland overnight.
In a series of updates on social media, Traffic Scotland said several A roads remain closed in some areas on Sunday morning, including the A1 motorway at Ayton due to power cables on the carriageway, the A75 between Collin and Carrutherstown due to fallen trees, the A82 at the Bridge of Orchy due to fallen trees, the A78 Shore Road in Skelmorlie due to damage to the road surface, the A85 at Achnacloich partially blocked in both directions, and the A83 at Inveraray due to a fallen tree.
Other A roads, including the A84 at Runacraig, the A87 at Breakish, A726 at Righead Roundabout and the A76 at Drumlanrig, were closed overnight due to fallen trees but were reopened by 8am on Sunday morning. A social media post from Traffic Scotland said: “Several trees have fallen across the trunk roads in Scotland overnight due to Storm Boelo. Teams are working hard to deal with these incidents as quickly and effectively as possible. Check your route to avoid disruption on the roads today.”
Sections of two motorways were also closed earlier but have since reopened. The M74 motorway was closed northbound between Junctions 7 and 6 due to a fallen tree, and the M8 motorway was closed at Junction 18 eastbound due to flooding, but reopened just before 5am.
Ferry, rail and power disruption
Many ferry services across the country have also been cancelled or are facing disruption. Of CalMac’s 30 ferry services, 24 have been cancelled, some of them until Monday. Three other services are facing disruption or last-minute cancellations because of the weather.
Several rail lines in western and northern Scotland have also closed as a result of the strong wind and heavy rain warnings across the country. Services south and west of Kilwinning in North Ayrshire stopped from 9pm on Saturday, while further north the Oban and Mallaig lines closed from about 10pm. On Sunday, the line between Kyle of Lochalsh and Achnashellach in the Highlands will be closed from the start of service, as well as the railway between Wick and Helmsdale.
ScotRail said speed restrictions are also expected across much of the network from late Saturday night and throughout Sunday, with the potential for restrictions to remain in place on the Far North Line between Inverness and Wick into Monday morning. These restrictions mean trains will operate at lower speeds than normal, resulting in longer journey times, delays and possible cancellations. ScotRail has advised people to check before travelling and to consider alternative arrangements where possible. The rail operator also said people with tickets for travel on Saturday or Sunday can travel on any service on Saturday, or use their ticket once routes reopen following the storm, including on Monday.
As of 12pm on Saturday, the Scottish Environment Protection Agency (Sepa) had 11 regional flood alerts and 10 local flood warnings in place across parts of the country. The agency said there is a risk of surface water, river and coastal flooding across many parts of Scotland this weekend. “A band of persistent rain will affect most of Scotland through Saturday,” Sepa said in a social media post. “By the evening, it will turn much windier bringing widespread high winds and severe gales with particular concern around coastal flooding impacts for western areas.”
SP Energy Networks (SPEN) said on Sunday morning that engineers are working to restore power to customers after Storm Boelo impacted parts of the electricity network overnight. The power company is one of the two primary network operators in Scotland, serving central and southern areas, as well as parts of England and North Wales. Following the storm, the firm said there are currently around 6,000 homes in the SP Energy Network areas without power, mainly across Ayrshire and Dumfries and Galloway. SPEN warned more outages could occur as the storm continues and said that teams are on stand-by. The power company said it has handled around 2,000 customer calls and has extra resource working throughout the day to support people who are affected by power cuts.
Scottish and Southern Electricity Networks (SSEN), Scotland’s other primary network operator, has reported a total of 111 power cuts affecting an unknown number of homes across parts of Scotland as of 11am on Sunday. The power outages have been reported across Highlands, Argyll, Western Isles, Orkney, parts of Perth and Kinross, and Stirling. Areas of Aberdeenshire, near Inverurie and Banchory, and large parts of the Isle of Mull, Skye, Harris and Lewis have also been affected by the power cuts. In a social media post on Sunday, the power company said it is “working hard to respond to damage caused by Storm Boelo”.
Police also warned drivers on Arran to avoid the A841 between Lochranza and Pirnmill, which is closed due to a sink hole. “Please do not attempt to use either route and consider whether your journey is essential in the current conditions if you do need to drive,” Ayrshire police said on social media.
