Weather warning for wind ‘has potential’ to cause weekend travel disruption

Scotland could be hit with travel disruption at the weekend after the Met Office issued a yellow weather warning for the entire country.

The alert for wind begins at 7am on Saturday and ends at 9pm on Sunday.

The north, west and south-east parts of England, alongside Wales, are also impacted by weather alerts.

The Met Office said there was a small chance those in the far north of the country could see gusts of more than 80mph.

Most of Scotland was expected to experience winds of up to 60mph, while coastal and hilly areas were likely to have gusts of 70mph.

Rain was also forecast across parts of the country, although no weather warning was in place for this.

The weekend was expected to be a busy time for shoppers ahead of Christmas on Wednesday.

Forecasters said the wind was likely to cause delays on roads, rail, air and ferry transport.

CalMac said on Friday that it had cancelled ferries on several routes at the weekend.

They predicted coastal routes, sea fronts and coastal communities could be impacted by spray and large waves and that it was possible there may be some short-term power cuts.

“Strong westerly winds are expected to develop through the course of Saturday, with gusts of 50-60mph developing quite widely across this region, and a small chance of gusts reaching 70mph around some coasts and high ground areas,” the Met Office said.

“This has the potential to cause delays to public transport and some disruption to the road network, which may have a greater than usual impact given the busier pre-Christmas weekend travel.

“Dangerous coastal conditions can be expected too, with large waves an additional hazard.

“Strong and gusty northwesterly winds are expected to develop on Sunday. Gusts of 50-60mph are expected quite widely, and around some exposed coasts and hills, gusts of 70mph are possible, especially in the north and west.

“In addition, squally showers are likely with some hail and thunder possible in places.”