Rail travel disruption continues in aftermath of Storm Floris

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The aftermath of Storm Floris continued to bring disruption to rail travel on Tuesday.

A family facing disrupted rail travel due to Storm Floris. Credit: Sarah Ward

Storm Floris brought winds of up to 90mph in some northern parts of the UK on Monday.

The Scottish Government said there were 119 incidents on the rail network caused by Storm Floris on Monday, including 75 tree-related ones, and Network Rail said it is working “tirelessly” to clear routes blocked by falling trees and debris.

ScotRail said suspended routes would need to be checked before they could be reopened, with disruption expected until around 4pm on Tuesday.

Caledonian Sleeper Services were cancelled on Monday night while LNER said services north of Newcastle could be delayed or cancelled on Tuesday and TransPennine Express said no services will run north of Carlisle or Newcastle before 9am.

They advised customers not to travel before then with rail operators advising passengers to check on services before travelling.

The Scottish Government’s Resilience Room held a meeting on Monday night to help decide an appropriate response to the storm, which has led to power outages and delays in exam results being delivered to pupils.

The meeting was attended by justice and home affairs secretary Angela Constance, transport secretary Fiona Hyslop, cabinet secretary for health and social care Neil Gray and climate action and energy secretary Gillian Martin, alongside representatives from the Met Office, Police Scotland, Transport Scotland, SEPA, transport and utilities companies and further resilience partners.

Ms Constance said: “As expected, there has been significant disruption, particularly across the travel networks.

“Power cuts are affecting a significant number of properties, and while utilities companies are working hard to reconnect supply in the face of challenging conditions, this will undoubtedly take some time to complete.

“The recovery period – both to reconnect homes to power and get transport back to normal – will require some time to clear the debris.

“We will continue to receive updates throughout Tuesday.”

Scottish and Southern Electricity Networks (SSEN) said Storm Floris had been “the most-damaging summer storm in recent memory” with the BBC reporting around 43,500 properties were without power on Monday night.

Director of customer operations for the north of Scotland Andy Smith said: “At the height of summer, we’ve mounted an operation that’s comparable in size to the ones we mobilise when a storm hits during the depths of winter, but the sustained nature of these damaging winds means some affected customers may be without power overnight.”

The Highlands, Moray and Aberdeenshire were the worst hit areas and SSEN said it was providing free hot food and drinks on Tuesday in several areas where homes remained without power.


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