Crews battle blaze on Skye while railway reopens after fire near Mallaig

Firefighters are continuing to battle a mile-long blaze on the Isle of Skye, while a railway line has reopened following a separate fire near Mallaig.

Crews were called to the mile-long fire in the Glendale area of Skye at 12.06pm on Tuesday, with the Scottish Fire and Rescue Service (SFRS) confirming four engines were in attendance.

Shortly afterwards, at 2.38pm, three fire engines were dispatched to a 500m-wide blaze in the Morar area, which had blocked tracks near Mallaig.

The SFRS confirmed the Morar fire had been extinguished by 5.50pm on Tuesday.

In a post on social media on Tuesday evening, Network Rail Scotland (NRS) said the line between Arisaig and Morar had been blocked by a “substantial” fire.

“We’re dealing with a fire on the railway between Arisaig and Morar on the Fort William to Mallaig line,” the post read.

“The fire is substantial and blocking the tracks”.

In a later post the NRS confirmed that the line has reopened following a safety inspection.

SFRS said they had been called to about 90 outdoor fires over the weekend, and a very high wildfire warning remains in place across Scotland until Wednesday.

An extreme wildfire warning has then been issued for the south west, eastern, central and north of Scotland for Thursday, with SFRS calling on the public to exercise caution in rural areas and to avoid lighting outdoor fires.