Scotland Weather: Trains and ferries cancelled as heavy rain and wind brings Hogmanay disruption

With multiple trains and ferries cancelled across the country and dozens of flood alerts in place, the last day of 2024 brought challenging conditions for those planning to travel to bring in the bells with friends and family.

Four separate weather warnings remain in place on Hogmanay, covering swathes of mainland Scotland and its islands, with communities in the Highlands particularly hard hit by the extremely wet conditions.

An amber alert spanned Moray and the Highlands, with the Met Office warning that heavy rainfall was likely to cause some property flooding and travel disruption.

A wider yellow warning for heavy rain and snow covering the same area is in place until 4am Wednesday for the Highlands and Moray, with a similarly expansive yellow warning of strong westerly winds covering the southern half of the country in place until 11pm on Hogmanay. Shetland and Orkney were subject to another yellow warning for a period of persistent snow, with the alert in place until midnight.

In Edinburgh, where the outdoor Hogmanay celebrations have been cancelled, wind gusts of up to 49mph were recorded by late afternoon, with gale force winds expected to continue throughout the evening and into 2025. However, other Hogmanay traditions - such as the Stonehaven fireballs and the Biggar bonfire - are still scheduled to go ahead as planned.

With further snow forecast in parts of the country - there could be accumulations of up to 20cm in high ground in the Highlands, with smaller accumulations at lower altitudes - there are also warnings of possible blizzard conditions as high winds remain.

Met Office meteorologist Craig Snell said: “It will be a tricky couple of days and a wet and windy spell for many up into the new year. We’re encouraging anyone who is planning to travel to keep up to date with the weather forecast and news from their local authorities.”

Around 420 households across the Highlands were impacted by power cuts due to “adverse weather” across the network, according to Scottish and Southern Electricity Networks. Its teams were out working to restore power, with a welfare van set up in Caithness to help those impacted.

As of 4.45pm, the Scottish Environment Protection Agency (SEPA) had 44 flood warnings and 10 flood alerts in place across the country, but earlier in the morning, the agency had lifted three severe flood warnings that were in place in the Highlands.

Highland Council had previously advised guests staying at Aviemore Holiday Park to seek alternative accommodation due to the “imminent” risk of flooding, while SEPA had predicted that evacuations were expected. But the watchdog said water levels on the River Spey began to rise on Tuesday morning, rather than overnight as expected.

Cordelia Menmuir, SEPA’s duty flood manager, said: “As with any event there is always a danger to life where flood water is involved and if people go near the rivers there is a danger to life. There will be water in areas we would not normally expect to find it in.”

Transport Scotland said the extremely wet conditions being experienced across the country meant that rainfall accumulations of around 100 to 140 mm were expected in the 48 hours to the end of Tuesday, and stressed that people should take care to plan their journeys in advance.

Douglas Cairns, Traffic Scotland operator manager at the Scottish Government agency, said: “The severe weather across much of Scotland this week will unfortunately cause some disruption across the transport network.

“Road, rail, air and ferry services are all likely to be affected by the conditions, with localised flooding, longer journey times and cancellations possible, as well as potential restrictions on bridges. The network is also expected to be busy as people travel to celebrate New Year with friends and family.”

That disruption was already evident as people tried to make their way around the country on Tuesday, with the conditions resulting in cancellations and delays across Scotland’s travel network.

Network Rail closed the Highland main line at Kingussie because of what it described as further “extreme rainfall” overnight. It also closed the line north of Inverness, between Muir of Ord and Dingwall, with the heavy rainfall, coupled with snowmelt, flooding the railway. Its engineers were also dealing with landslips on the line between Helmsdale and Brora.

The severe weather led to the implementation of various blanket emergency speed restrictions on some Scotrail routes, resulting in extended journeys and delays. As of Tuesday afternoon, services between Edinburgh Waverley and Inverness were subject to major disruption due to very heavy rainfall, with several trains beginning or ending their journey at Perth.

Services between Inverness and Glasgow and Aberdeen were also subject to minor disruption, with multiple journeys delayed or shortened so that they too started or terminated in Perth. The restrictions were scheduled to remain in place for the rest of the day. Several services between Glasgow Central and Edinburgh were also cancelled due to heavy rain flooding the track.

On Scotland’s roads, the A9 at Tomich was closed in both directions due to flooding. The Forth Road Bridge was closed to double decker buses due to high winds, with the Tay Road Bridge open to cars only. The snow gates were closed on the A939 between Tomintoul and Cock Bridge, while the A832 from Fortrose to Avoch on the Black Isle was closed following a landslide. Police Scotland has advised the road will be closed until early next week.

The weather also led to significant disruption across Scotland’s ferry crossings, with Caledonian MacBrayne cancelling multiple crossings between Mallaig and Oban, Armadale, and Canna. Across the company’s 30 routes, some 24 were subject to a degree of disruption.