A Ryanair flight that was due to land in Scotland on Friday morning circled above the airport before returning south. Ryanair flight RK596 from Stansted airport, Essex, to Edinburgh airport, reached the skies above the Scottish capital, but was unable to land.
After circling over the Borders, it returned to Stansted. The Boeing 737 jet departed Stansted at 8.35am and touched down at the same airport two hours and 44 minutes later, at 11.19am. Ryanair has cancelled its 1.55pm departure from Stansted to Edinburgh.
A red danger to life warning for wind has been extended in Scotland where thousands have lost power and people have been urged to stay indoors. Trains have been suspended across the country and hundreds of schools are closed after forecasters predicted wind speeds of up to 100mph.
Vehicles have been blown over and roads in some areas are closed due to debris from Storm Eowyn, with a gust of 86mph recorded at Dundrennan in Dumfries and Galloway at 9am. Police Scotland said no motorists should travel in or to the red weather warning area.
The Met Office red warning runs until 5pm and covers the central belt including Glasgow and Edinburgh, stretching north on the west coast to Jura in Argyll and Bute. It originally stretched south to Stranraer in Dumfries and Galloway but at around 11am this was extended to cover most of Dumfries and Galloway.
Scottish and Southern Electricity Networks’ (SSEN) Distribution said as of 10am, it had successfully restored power to 6,568 customers who had lost supplies since the storm began early on Friday. It said 2,621 customers are currently off supply, and as the “extremely severe” storm continues to move across Scotland, it expects further disruption.
SSEN said it has at least 10 times the usual number of people working in response to Storm Eowyn. It has sent text messages to almost 170,000 people on its priority services register, and has been calling its most vulnerable customers to offer support.
The storm has caused disruption on the roads, with the A1 between Spott Roundabout and Cockburnspath, East Lothian, closed due to a number of overturned vehicles. The A709 was closed on the Lockerbie side of Lochmaben in Dumfries and Galloway due to fallen trees between Lochmaben High Street and the Halleaths junction.
The A75 had closures at Collin bypass and Skyreburn Bridge, Dumfries and Galloway, due to fallen trees, as does the A76 at Newbridge, Leswalt High Road in Stranraer, the A746 at Glasserton Road, Newton Stewart, and the A709 at various places surrounding the Lockerbie area.
The Scottish Environment Protection Agency has 10 flood alerts and three flood warnings in place. Schools and nurseries across Scotland are closed, except in five council areas, while non-urgent planned hospital procedures have been postponed in NHS Lanarkshire and NHS Lothian.
Forecasters said the weather conditions bring a “risk of significant disruption to transport and power supplies as well as dangerous conditions outdoors”, with “very dangerous” driving conditions because of fallen trees and other debris. They also warned of the potential for damage to buildings and homes.
In a post on X, First Minister John Swinney said: “The RED weather warning we have today is very serious. There are extensive school closures, transport disruption and many dangers from the strong wind. @PoliceScotland have issued do not travel advice. Please follow all of the advice and stay safe.”
Police Scotland Chief Superintendent Hilary Sloan said: “Our advice to any road user is not travelling, and that’s really the message we want to get across. It’s really unusual for us to have a red weather warning and that advice is in place for the duration of that warning.”
Buses across Scotland have also been widely disrupted and many ferry services across the country have been cancelled. Glasgow and Edinburgh airports saw dozens of flights cancelled on Friday morning due to the weather conditions.
While no trains are running in Scotland on Friday, Network Rail Scotland has posted images on social media of railway infrastructure that has been damaged, including a tree resting against overhead wires above the track near Largs, North Ayrshire, and a fallen tree which damaged overhead wires at nearby Kilwinning. Public buildings, such as libraries, have also been closed by a number of local authorities.
The Deputy First Minister urged Scots in the central belt to follow the advice not to travel. Appearing on BBC Radio Scotland’s Good Morning Scotland programme, Kate Forbes said: “It is so important that people follow Police Scotland’s advice not to travel because if people stay at home and don’t travel then it means they don’t invite that risk to themselves.”
Ms Forbes also warned that recovery from Storm Eowyn could “take longer than we all hope”. She added: “It is important our expectations are managed by how quickly things can return to normal and there may well be continuing disruption tomorrow.”