DESPITE a lull yesterday evening, Storm Callum is expected to cause further disruption to rail and road users across Scotland today as the Met Office maintained a yellow warning of heavy rain for much of the country.
Yesterday saw the storm at its worst in Scotland. Ferries were cancelled, road bridges were closed and the rail line between Kilwinning and Largs/Ardrossan was shut when waves from the Firth of Clyde pounded over the sea walls at Saltcoats.
The Scottish Environment Protection Agency has two flood warnings at Orkney and Fort William in place plus a further ten flood alerts elsewhere in the country.
Elsewhere in the UK, thousands of homes in England and Northern Ireland were without power as winds of up to 72 mph downed trees while heavy rain swamped many areas. At one point some 30,000 homes in the Republic of Ireland had lost power. There were no reports of any fatalities or serious injuries. The worst affected area in Scotland was in Argyll. The A83 road at Rest and Be Thankful will be closed until Monday at least after the heavy rain caused fresh landslips early yesterday.
Contractors Bear Scotland said 300 tonnes of new debris reached the main A83 and 50 tonnes descended onto the nearby Old Military Road. Engineers had earlier managed to secure the last of three boulders left exposed above the roads.
Both roads have been closed since Tuesday with further rain forecast for today and a 60-mile detour is in place.
Transport secretary Michael Matheson said: “The landslides at the Rest and Be Thankful this week have been some of the most challenging in recent memory both for the community and for the teams working in difficult conditions.”
“It is a dynamic situation on the hillside, there are warnings of further heavy rain and while every effort is being made to get traffic moving, today’s events reinforce the need for a safety first approach.
“I understand that local residents and businesses are being inconvenienced as a result of these events and I would like to thank them for their patience during the disruption.
“Every effort is being made to clean-up the debris and I appreciate the huge efforts of the recovery teams and police.”
Local SNP MP Brendan O’Hara has called on the Scottish Government to fund a scheme to stop the landslips. Matheson said an additional £2 million would be allocated for landslip containment and the A83 task force will meet to discuss further improvements.
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