The full devastation of Storm Eowyn as nature's fury spares no prisoners

From Islay to Irvine, few places escaped the wrath of Storm Éowyn, with hurricane-force winds wreaking havoc on sections of the country that were effectively in a state of lockdown. Those who ventured out encountered a tempest that took no prisoners, upending HGVs as if they were child’s playthings and damaging landmarks that had stood for centuries.

For all that Scotland was braced for nature’s fury, with a rare red weather warning issued by the Met Office and millions of people receiving government emergency alerts on Thursday evening, the full extent of the weather front’s power and longevity still came as a rude awakening.

As the skies darkened on Friday and the howling gales continued, the human cost began to emerge. A gas engineer in Glasgow was injured after a falling tree pierced the roof off his van, while another driver was seriously hurt after a single vehicle collision in Mauchline, East Ayrshire. Police Scotland officers were also investigating whether the death of a 49 year-old man in Irvine, found unresponsive in a street, was weather related.

It will take days, if not weeks, to assess the full extent of the damage wrought by gusts exceeding 100mph. But given the final repair bill for Storm Arwen in 2021 reached nearly £300 million, the clean-up operation from Éowyn will be extensive.

The storm’s dreadful legacy was evident in villages, towns, and cities across the Central Belt and beyond long before the gusts reached their full power. Even before 9am, thousands of people were without power, with the gathering winds downing trees and walls in parts of Ayrshire and Lanarkshire.

During what would ordinarily have been a busy rush hour, the transport network was eerily quiet in a way not seen since the early Covid-19 lockdowns. Typically-bustling concourses at Edinburgh Waverley and Glasgow Central were all but deserted as all trains were cancelled.

On roads where any other Friday morning would bring nose-to-tail traffic, the few drivers who ventured out traversed torrid conditions. As Éowyn moved in, vital arteries across southern Scotland were hit particularly hard. The storm forced the partial closure of the A1 near Dunbar as a number of vehicles overturned, and leading to the closure of the entire 96-mile stretch of the A75 between Stranraer and Gretna. Around 50 miles further north, a slew of fallen trees blocked the A77 in Minishant in South Ayrshire.

The skies over Scotland were also conspicuously empty, with Edinburgh and Glasgow airports seeing over 243 cancelled flights by 10.30am. Those scheduled services that took to the air were soon thwarted by the raging storm. One Ryanair flight from Stansted attempted to land in Edinburgh, only to abandon the procedure and circle the Borders. It was initially diverted to Germany before returning to London.

It became clear early on that even the most pessimistic predictions about Eowyn’s power would have to be revised. As gusts of 86mph were recorded at Dundrennan in Dumfries and Galloway at 9am, the red weather warning was extended to cover more areas of south-west Scotland.

The eerie scenes as Scotland effectively ground to a standstill under Eowyn’s bidding were clear far and wide. In Glasgow city centre, usually bustling thoroughfares such as Buchanan Street and Sauchiehall Street were practically empty of pedestrians with the overwhelming majority of shops closed. On the latter street, the only stirring was the rattling of construction fencing felled by the wind.

Not everywhere, however, had battened down the hatches. The Italian restaurant O Sole Mio was one of the few eateries welcoming customers, with proprietor, Djamel Benouari, taking the decision to open to cater to anyone stranded in the city.

Come noon, barely two hours into the red alert, the unrelenting storm intensified, with gusts close to 90mph wreaking havoc. Scottish Power Energy Networks put the number of homes without power in central and southern Scotland at 20,000. Little over an hour later, the nationwide total stood at 35,000, and before long, the number reached 100,000. Several airports grounded all their flights - with Prestwick suspending its operations entirely for the day - as the gust speeds reached treacherously high levels in places.

By lunchtime, a gust of 95.7mph had been recorded on the Forth Road Bridge. Shortly after 2pm, the 100mph barrier had broken at Drumalbin in South Lanarkshire. Then around 4pm, a gust of 102mph was recorded at the Tay Road Bridge.

From Islay to Irvine, wind-whipped waves battered against Scotland’s western coastline. Some of the worst impacted areas dotted the Firth of Clyde coastline. In Troon, the surge from the Firth of Clyde caused flooding in several seafront streets, while in Greenock, the stadium of Scottish Championship football team Morton had parts of its roof ripped apart by the gales.

In Saltcoats, meanwhile, multiple houses, as well as an ice rink and local shops suffered extensive damage to roofs and walls. Other residents looked out to see sheds, greenhouses and garden fences torn apart by the gusts.

James Gourley, a technician in the North Ayrshire town, said he witnessed parts of the roof of a neighbouring property being whipped off before falling on parked vehicles outside. “It’s been absolutely wild and really scary,” he said. “Even indoors you feel at risk in case your windows blow in.”

In Denny, the gable end of a Co-op store was all but destroyed, leaving a pile of masonry and broken timber scattered across the pavement and road. Some landmarks also suffered as they were caught up in the gusts. The Darnley Sycamore in Glasgow, a nationally significant tree with links to Mary, Queen of Scots, was dealt severe damage, with several of its branches snapped off.

The sheer scale of the devastation will only become clear in the cold, hard light of day.